Parmigiano Reggiano is the best: the words of Lieutenant Colombo

The words of Lieutenant Colombo: “Parmigiano Reggiano is the best.” Opening in one of the most beloved series In one of the world’s most beloved detectives “Lieutenant Colombo” Parmigiano Reggiano played a major role.

An observation of a curious interpretation of Peter Falk comes from Gabriele Arlotti, a journalist and researcher on the history of the famous formadio. “Parmigiano Reggiano appears in at least one of the 69 episodes of the successful NBC and ABC television program from 1968 to 2003, which is considered by many specialist magazines to be one of the best series.” Building on enthusiast reports, cheese historian Gabriele Arlotti, who also identified the forms of Parmigiano Reggiano and Gorgonzola on the Titanic, begins a reconstruction from the crime scene in the episode “The Killing Agenda” which aired on February 10, 1990. The inspector arrives at the scene of the crime, sniffs the table, finds a pinch of Parmigiano Reggiano and starts sniffing to make sure he recognizes it. ‘That’s different. This Reggiano cheese, and it’s expensive too! My father liked it,” exclaims the lieutenant in the unmistakably cloak, and offers a piece to the sergeant who accompanies him to prove his kindness. According to Arlotti, some of the details are extremely revealing: “First of all, the fact that the direction frames a magnificent slice of Parmigiano Reggiano for a long time and in the foreground, identifiable, moreover, by the characteristic tyrosine crystals, almost absent in American cheeses. , but also for the use in speech, both in the original and in dubbing, of the word Reggiano. Thus, the evaluation of our product occurs through a long tasting, first olfactory, then visual (Colombo folds his hands to reveal it in a sign of satisfaction) and, finally, taste. Even the price, the cop says, is a testament to its quality, and the scent is “It’s different,” says his sergeant. Finally, it will be a toothprint on a piece of our precious cheese to expose the killer, Oscar Finch (masterfully played by Patrick McGoohan), who put Parmigiano Reggiano on the table to fake the suicide of the victim, Stablin. But he couldn’t resist…”

While in Italy, on the small screen, as elsewhere in the world, episodes of this series that captivates millions of people are reproduced, a video reconstructing this exceptional promo for Parmigiano Reggiano is posted on the official American page of Columbo, on Youtube, strong 184,000 subscribers. “Peter Falk,” Arlotti researched, “often liked to improvise on the features of his character, even in well-coordinated scenes like this one, but very dramatic. He did this by inserting strange things like this one, so characteristic of tasting, at the crime scene. A method he also used to unbalance his fellow actors and captivate the audience. A few years prior to this episode, Colombo had been very picky and unlikely to have eaten at the crime scene, but eventually gave in and called him “the greatest.” “For the future,” says Reggiano Formadio, researcher of Parmigiano’s first parchment, “it would also be nice to have a posthumous Emilian confession to the family of actor Peter Falk, now buried in Los Angeles, who died in 2011 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.” Gabriele Arlotti concludes: “The value of these sensual episodes – what’s more, Colombo will give another DOC wine from Montefiascone (Est! Est!! Est!!!) – lies in the global success of this television series and our well-known product. Lots of comments related to this episode. Among the many here is one from an American consumer who stocked up at California-based Trader Joe’s: “He just bought Reggiano cheese for this video today. Columbo was still right: Reggiano (in the US) is expensive and delicious.”

Despite strong opposition from the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, in the US the term “parmesan” is a generic word used for an endless number of cheeses that, compared to the Italian original, have very little in common. Hence, to distinguish the original, Parmigiano Reggiano, from many American memories, Parmigiano, American actors or the upper class simply refer to it as Reggiano. So did Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, who told Vogue in 2015 that she loved “homemade bread and Reggiano.”