Are you a vegetarian? Well, if you instantly nodded in an agreement, I have a bad news for you. Your nod might change by the end of this article. Especially if you are a fan of cheese. Dude, you need to sit down for this.
Well, according to a report in The Guardian Parmesan cheese is not vegetarian.
Yes, it is apparently made using calf rennet and is unsuitable for vegetarians (duh).
Let us explain how, and, rather why is it not suitable for vegetarians. Cheese is made by coagulating milk to produce curd and whey. The curd are then processed and matured to produce various kinds of cheeses. But, here’s the catch, coagulation of milk is achieved by the addition of rennet, the active ingredient of which is the enzyme Chymosin and it’s impossible to make Parmesan without animal rennet.
If you are still wondering how does it make it unfit for vegetarians, well, let me tell you the traditional source of rennet, it is the stomach of slaughtered newly-born calves (go throw up, I am waiting).
Not just Parmesan cheese but also other varieties of cheese like Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) Grana Padano and Gorgonzola are non-vegetarian too.
The silver line here is the fact that our Indian origin Paneer is one cheese which does not involve the use of rennet as heated milk is curdled with the addition of lemon juice or other acidic food.
*Gargling the rennet I ate by mistake…throughout my life. This is going to take some time.*