Swiss-type cheeses

Swiss-type cheeses, also known as Alpine cheeses, are a group of hard or semi-hard cheeses with a distinct character, whose origins lie in the Alps of Europe, although they are now eaten and imitated in most cheesemaking parts of the world. Their distinct character arose from the requirements of cheese made in the summer on high Alpine grasslands (alpage in French), and then transported with the cows down to the valleys in the winter, in the historic culture of Alpine transhumance.^[1] Traditionally the cheeses were made in large rounds or "wheels" with a hard rind, and were robust enough for both keeping and transporting.^[1]

The best-known cheeses of the type, all made from cow's milk, include the Swiss Emmental, Gruyère and Appenzeller, as well as the French Beaufort and Comté (from the Jura Mountains, near the Alps). Both countries have many other traditional varieties, as do the Alpine regions of Austria (Alpkäse) and Italy (Asiago and Montasio), though these have not achieved the same degree of intercontinental fame.^[2] Jarlsberg cheese originated in 19th-century Norway and is made using similar methods to Emmental. Maasdam cheese is a Dutch version, devised in the late 20th century.^[3] All of these are widely exported. In North America and some other areas outside Europe, Emmental is the best known, and is commonly called simply "Swiss cheese".^[4][5] However, in Switzerland itself more Gruyère is consumed, and in continental Europe Gruyère, a name with a considerably longer history, tends to be thought of as the archetypal Swiss cheese,^[6] with for example "Gruyère de Comté" being another name for Comté.

Technically, Swiss-type cheeses are "cooked", meaning made using thermophilic lactic fermentation starters, incubating the curd with a period at a high temperature of 45°C or more.^[7] Since they are later pressed to expel excess moisture, the group are also described as "'cooked pressed cheeses'",^[8] fromages à pâte pressée cuite in French. Most varieties have few if any holes or "eyes", or holes that are much smaller than the large holes found in some Emmental or its imitations. The general eating characteristics of the cheeses are a firm but still elastic texture, flavour that is not sharp, acidic or salty, but rather nutty and buttery. When melted, which they often are in cooking, they are "gooey", and "slick, stretchy and runny".^[9]

A number of traditional types have legally controlled standards, for example the Appellation d'origine protégée in Switzerland, often covering the permitted breeds of cow, pastures, location and method of making, period of maturation, as well as details of their food chemistry. Most global modern production is industrial, with little control of these. This is usually made in rectangular blocks, and by wrapping in plastic no rind is allowed to form. Historical production was all with "raw" milk, although the periods of high heat in making largely controlled unwelcome bacteria, but modern production may use thermized or pasteurized milk.^[10]