Big same lol. If it's tasty, has roughly the right texture and won't get me sick beyond an acceptable level of cheese-induced gastrointestinal distress, I don't give a fuck if it's from Lombardy or London 😂

I eat a lot of Parmesan so it does actually hit different lmao

It's not bougie at all, all regional and traditional food produce is heavily regulated here (in Italy) and I think you'd struggle to find anyone that thinks rules about product naming should be relaxed. Traditional cuisine is just super important to Italians and they take the idea of foreigners undercutting their producers very seriously. It isn't just famous cheeses like parmiggiano either, every area has its own unique food and wine.

Coming from a lot of other countries it seems weird and stuck up because we're used to eating food that's been extruded or precooked on an industrial scale, but I think it's endearing that they give a shit about food heritage. Local food is just a huge deal here, people care about eating locally sourced foods and seasonal vegetables.

The European food market rose in the middle ages before we fully understood fermentation processes, so locations and guilds were associated with quality. The food market of the Americas came later, and we learned early on making the good stuff wasn't about location but the right cultures and the right conditions.

So California wines are named after the grapes while French wines are named after the location. But if your counterfeit cheese is as good as or better then the official stuff, there should be an easy way to market it.