Is this old romano good?

[Cloversmilker]

This is a five year old romano.  It was cut about 18 months ago, and half was forgotten in our backup frig.  When cut it was dense and light colored.  Now it is brown.  About the same color as the oak table.  What happened?  Edible or not?

[mtncheesemaker]

I don't know why not. It appears dry, but it doesn't seem to have anything weird growing on it. I would think it would be fine as a grating type cheese.
Pam

[Boofer]

I bought some 5-year-old Gouda recently with about the same color. Pretty hard, but nice flavor.

Where's that pasta?   

-Boofer-

[Tomer1]

Its heavily oxidized and dry but If you can grate it im sure it can be great on pasta and souces.

[Cloversmilker]

Okay!  Will be trying soon.  Grating may be a challenge though.  It's dense and hard.

[Aris]

I've had a romano that looks like that before and it was great.

[smilingcalico]

I like to think of really aged cheese as a slow process of caramelization, but maybe it's more akin to the Maillard Reaction.  Think of Mysost, a caramelized whey cheese.  I think it should be quite nutty with lots of caramel and butterscotch notes.  Do let us know how it is!