Reggianito is a very hard, granular

Grana (cheese)

Grana originally referred to a class of hard, mature cheeses from Italy which have a granular texture and are often used for grating. These cheeses are typically made in the form of large drums. The structure is often described as crystalline, and the drums are divided by being split with a fairly...

, cows' milk cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

 from Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 whose origins lie with immigrant Italians

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 who wished to make a cheese reminiscent of their native Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano-Reggiano , also known in English as Parmesan , is a hard granular cheese, cooked but not pressed, named after the producing areas near Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, and Bologna , and Mantova , Italy...

. The name—the Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 diminutive of "Reggiano

Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilia is an affluent city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 170,000 inhabitants and is the main comune of the Province of Reggio Emilia....

"—refers to the fact that the cheese is produced in small 6.8 kg wheels, rather than the huge Parmigiano-Reggiano drums.

The cheese, which is rather saltier than its Italian parent, is generally used for cooking or for grating over pasta dishes. The aging period of 5–6 months, although longer than that of any other South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n hard cheese, is shorter than that of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

In the years following World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Italian cheese makers recognized Reggianito as a serious competitor in the export market and this fact was instrumental in the setting up the Parmigiano-Reggiano consortium. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, it is often sold as Parmesan.

Sources

• History of the Parmigiano-Reggiano consortium from the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano site