The Interview: Lou diPalo On Parmigiano-Reggiano

Lou DiPalo is a fourth generation food merchant in New York's Little Italy.  He and his brother and sister still go to work every day at DiPalo's Fine Foods, founded in 1910 on Grand Street and arguably the best Italian dairy and grocer in the United States.  The shop is lined with shelves filled with canned tomatoes, canned tuna and anchovies, fresh pasta, just-baked breads, and olive oils, and it's common for lines to go out the door as customers patiently wait their turn for perfectly sliced prosciutto di Parma. 

But what DiPalo's is especially famous and loved for are their cheeses.  Ricotta, mozzarella, tallagio, burrata, grana padano, and most of all -- Parmigiano Reggiano.  There is no one better than Lou DiPalo to tell us what we need to know before we buy this king of cheeses.