Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <cheese><vegetarian>
Title: Is it possible to get vegetarian grana padano cheese?
Question: My wife is vegetarian and, since meeting her, I've come to realise that all Grana Padano seems to be non-vegetarian. Is this really the case, or are my local supermarkets just not stocking the veggie stuff? Would be a shame for her to miss out on so many things (esp. pesto) just because of this.  Thanks.

Answers:
sents: text: You may be able to find vegetarian Grana Padano style cheese, but I don't think you will find the real thing in vegetarian form.
text: This is because the making of Grana Padano is still a traditional process and true GP cheese is only produced in certain regions of Italy.
text: It in fact has P.D.O. (Protected Designation of Origin) status, which means that only those cheeses produced in certain regions and using certain methods can legally be called Grana Padano.
text: I imagine one of those methods is using animal rennet.
text: I would be surprised that there isn't some form of substitute available in Italy, as they have the highest proportion of vegetarians in Europe at 10%.
text: I get the feeling, however, that they are perhaps less zealous about it than others if it means giving up good cheese.
text: The only suggestion I have found as an alternative to GP as something to sprinkle on pasta etc is nutritional yeast powder, which apparently has a similar nutty, creamy taste.
text: Not ideal, but if you make the choice to be veggie you have to take the rough with the smooth!
text: I see from your profile that you live in the UK; we are lucky in that we have a lot of fantastic small local producers, so it may be worth looking up some local dairies or cheesemakers and seeing if they can offer an alternative.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/4194/ElendilTheTall
score: 12
sents: text: I Buy kosher Grana Padano: http://www.collaspa.it/en/index.php Since we can't use animal rennet
text: ,it is vegetarian and it says so on their web page.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/25091/Rachel
score: 6
sents: text: You can get a cheese named Grandi Pascoli from QuatrtroColli.
text: Its is a grana padano made With vegetable rennet.
text: This is especially made for vegetarian use.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/50403/Andreas
score: 3
sents: text: No. Grana Padano's traditional recipe uses animal rennett and because it has DOP protection under EU law, no cheese made to any other recipe can be sold as 'Grana Padano'.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/14817/Vince Bowdren
score: 2
sents: text: Try Grana Padano Tipo, which contains a modified enzyme.
text: It's used by a leading vegetarian restaurant in Brighton, for its full flavour.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/18898/DANIEL JETER
score: 1
sents: text: I believe the best vegetarian alternative is Gran Mantovano .
text: It's made in Italy by a reputable maker of Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano and
text: in my opinion is an excellent substitute for Grana Padano.
text: It is made specifically for vegetarians.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/83726/kpg
score: 1
sents: text: There is indeed a fabulous Italian Hard Cheese that is Vegetarian.
text: It's called Quattrocento and is made by Granarolo.
text: You can buy it at Waitrose or from idelionline.com
text: It's a smoother texture but still packs a punch so cooks and eats the same as a parmesan or PDO product
text: It is made with microbial rennet and is preservative free so a much cleaner ingredient deck than a few other cheeses of a similar style
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/70792/E11i3 M
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
Vegetarian Grana Padano-style cheeses include Kosher Grana Padano, which does not use animal rennet, Grandi Pascoli from QuatrtroColli, Gran Mantovano and Quattrocento from Granarolo.
You can't buy Grana padano without animal rennet. You can also try Grandi Pascoli, Gran Mantovano or Quattrocento.