---

SMART SHOPPING: Pregrated Parmesan

---

We weren’t surprised when freshly grated cheese won out over the store-bought pregrated variety in a recent tasting, but we were surprised by the “strong, pungent” taste of the pregrated cheese. We learned this had less to do with the quality of the cheese than it did with its weight. In the test kitchen we generally use a rasp-style grater to grate Parmesan cheese into thin, fluffy wisps. Supermarket pregrated Parmesan is typically pulverized into a dense, heavy powder. Thus, an equal weight of the pregrated cheese has only about half as much volume as the fluffy rasp-grated cheese. So if you choose to use pregrated Parmesan, start by adding half the volume of cheese the recipe calls for, then add more to taste if desired.