This Swiss Cheese Story Has No Holes In It

By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Blogger

We all know about the holes in Swiss cheese, but here’s a story about cheese from Switzerland that has no holes in it.

This is the tale about cheeses from the Appenzeller region of the country in northeastern Switzerland at the foot of the Alpstein mountains. The cheeses here go back 700 years, to 1282, in fact. They also have a special brine wash that is different in each of the some 75 dairies that produce Appenzeller cheese. While it consists of herbs, roots, leaves, blossoms, seeds and rinds, no two are the same and only the fathers and sons of the dairies know thier specific recipe. This is a secret that is handed down from generation to generation.

The cheeses are aged from three to eight months and have different colored labels, each with different aging times and flavors.

By now you are probably saying “yeah, but get to the taste!” Okay, okay.

I have had two Appenzeller cheeses, the Appenzeller Extra Black and the Appenzeller Classic Silver. And I can tell you each one has very bold flavor, a lot more than you will find in your local grocery store in the U.S. As an example, I had some pretty good Swiss cheese (the kind with the holes) in the fridge and did a taste test, and its flavor paled in compaision to the Appenzeller.

The Classic Silver has a bit of a creamy flavor while the Extra Black is sharp and robust. It is also an excellent melting cheese. They both have hints of herbal spices.

In Switzerland, it is traditional to serve cheese with small potatoes and petite pickles. In America, of course, it’s with crackers. The Swiss also melt their cheeses into fondue and yes, that’s still a thing in that country. They serve it with those small potatoes and maybe bits of ham or another kind of meat. (This was actually my first meal on my initial trip to Switzerland; I said “well look, they really do have fondue here!”)

Another thing they serve with cheese in Switzerland are those exquisite Swiss wines (I especially like the whites). In America (as well as elsewhere around the world; we hardly are on an island here), wine and cheese is as natural a pairing as a snow-covered mountain with skis or snowboards.

It is a perfect pairing, so much so that if you will excuse me, I will go have some of each now.

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