I had the privilege of spending the morning with two of these maestros on the job in Emilia-Romagna: Alessandro Stocchi, a dynamic 37-year-old native of Reggio Emilia who began training to become a battitore in 2014, and his mentor, Renato Giudici, who at 81 years old, embodies a lifetime of passion for Parmigiano Reggiano. Renato is a former cheesemaker who made Parmigiano Reggiano for many years, and rather than retire, he chose to become a guardian of the King of Cheeses as a battitore.

There’s no course to learn the niche skills and nuances of this trade; Alessandro accompanied and apprenticed with Renato and other experts for about 3 years, learning through firsthand experience how to assess each wheel.

“The particularity of this profession to me is that it’s like it was 200 years ago, and it’s a skill that’s handed down from generation to generation. You go around with the most expert, most experienced battitori, and you watch and listen to them, and slowly they start to give you the hammer. You try with them next to you, piano piano, and gradually, you begin to do more on your own,” explained Stocchi. “It’s a big responsibility, you have to be really capable of doing it, you can’t damage the cheese.”