Swiss cheeses

These cheeses were featured in a tasting at the ZIWA Kick-Off on 23 September 2014

Tilsiter Mild

Tilsiter cheese is a light yellow semi-hard cheese, created in the mid-19th century by Prussian-Swiss settlers, the Westphal family, from the Emmental valley. The same ingredients to make the cheese were not available as in their home country and the cheese became colonized by different moulds, yeasts, and bacteria in the humid climate. The result was a cheese that was more intense and full flavoured. The settlers named the cheese after Tilsit, the Prussian town in which they had settled.

Tilsiter has a medium-firm texture with irregular holes or cracks. Commercially produced Tilsiter is made from pasteurized cow's milk, ranges from 30 to 60 percent milk fat and has a dark yellow rind. After the main part of its production, the cheese needs to rest for an additional 2 months.

Nowadays it’s manufactured in more than one location and the milk comes from north and east Switzerland.

Using the re-imported recipe, Tilsiter has been manufactured in Switzerland since 1893. Swiss Tilsiter is mainly produced in 3 varieties. A mild version (green label) is made from pasteurized milk, a more strongly flavoured one from fresh, unpasteurized milk (red label), and the yellow-labeled "Rahm-Tilsiter" is produced from pasteurized milk with added cream.

Appenzeller Surchoix

Appenzeller cheese is a hard cow's-milk cheese produced in the Appenzell region of northeast Switzerland. A herbal brine, sometimes incorporating wine or cider, is applied to the wheels of cheese while they cure, which flavors and preserves the cheese while promoting the formation of a rind.

Appenzeller has a documented history of at least 700 years. 

Today, about 75 dairies produce it, each with a different recipe for their brine wash. Most of the recipes are trade secrets.

The cheese is straw-colored, with tiny holes and a golden rind. It has a strong smell and a nutty or fruity flavor, which can range from mild to tangy, depending on how long it is aged. Three types are sold:

• "Classic". Aged three to four months. The wheels are wrapped in a silver label.
• "Surchoix". Aged four to six months. Gold label.
• "Extra". Aged six months or longer. Black label.

Gstaader Mutschli

From the Berner Oberland Saanen region of south-east Switzerland. You can visit the cheese factory there: http://www.molkerei-gstaad.ch/

Mutschli is a 'HalbhartKäse' or Half hard (semi hard) cheese produced in the Canton of Bern.

Mutschli is the Bernese version of the common 'Hirtenkäse' or Herdsman's cheese. These cheeses were traditionally made for the direct consumption by the farmers, rather than for sale. As such they are softer so that they do not need to be aged as long, often being eaten after a few weeks of ageing. Historically speaking, these are probably the oldest cheese type, the longer aged alpine cheeses being adapted from them by adjusting the recipe so that they store better, being more suited to transport across long distances.

All cheeses from Switzerland

·                     Sbrinz

·                     Emmentaler

·                     Swiss cheese

·                     Gruyère/Greyerzer

·                     Berner Alpkäse

·                     Schabziger

·                     Appenzeller

·                     Bündner Bergkäse

·                     Mutschli

·                     Raclette

·                     Tête de Moine

·                     Vacherin Fribourgeois

·                     Tilsiter

·                     Vacherin Mont d'Or

·                     Formaggini

·                     Gala

·                     Büsciun da cavra

·                     L'Etivaz

·                     Tomme vaudoise

Visit the Bern Cheese Festival - 25 October 2014: Bern cheese festival

Julia Newton, 23 September 2014

Restaurant of the Month - March 2013

Restaurant Swiss Chuchi at Hotel Adler

Rosengasse 10/Hirschenplatz, 8001 Zurich

http://www.hotel-adler.ch/en/restaurant-swiss-chuchi/

On a very snowy day at the end of March, what could be nicer than a traditional Swiss fondue at the home of Swiss traditional cooking in the heart of the Zurich old town. The menu includes a choice of at least ten different fondues as well as the menu of the day and a seasonal selection. The fondues were priced from CHF 26 to 37, and most of our group opted for one of them: the traditional Waadtlaender (from Canton Vaud) with four cheeses and kirsch, the Herren-Fondue with green pepper and mustard and the day's special fondue which was made with sparkling wine. We could also have chosen fondues with different cheeses, pear brandy, morel mushrooms or ham.


Those who were not keen on cheese chose a dish from the daily specials which included Fleischkaese (not very popular with us), roesti, lamb or beef, fish, salad and vegetarian dishes. The day's menus are priced at a very reasonable CHF17 and include soup or salad and coffee.

The service was excellent and friendly, the fondues could be served in individual dishes or in pairs and the atmosphere was very warm - we could smell the cheese from the road outside. Wines were available by the glass for anyone who felt the desire for more alcohol. The Swiss Chuchi at the Adler is a Zurich landmark in the centre of the Niederdorf area, and as we paid and left, another group of cold, hungry people was heading through the door.


The a la carte menu also includes that other Swiss staple, raclette served in a dozen different ways, or you could also try a Fondue Bourguignonne or a Fondue Chinois as well as a selection of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes.

It's great value in a warm and cosy atmosphere. En guete!