Holy Cheese, Batman!

Last week I was lucky enough to spend a day with the people from Emmi learning all about Swiss cheese. It was a fascinating day, though I have to admit the lunch was the best bit. Obviously heavy on the cheese we had a delicious raqulette, and cheesey fillo pastry pies. But it was also very interesting.

The things which stick in my mind was the video showing the cheese being made in small village dairies with local farmers bringing in little vans of milk to be made into cheese. And the origin of the holes in Swiss cheese. Wheels of Swiss cheese are wider and thinner than the truckles of English cheese like cheddar and Stilton and the texture much more springy and not crumbly. The reason being, these cheeses were produced up in the mountains in a time long before vans and motor cars. The only way to get them down the hill was to roll them. A few bumps and most cheeses would start to fall apart, but not the Swiss cheese with its internal suspension system. Clever? And tasty.