An assortment of Swiss cheese delicacies UNMATCHED
There, during the celebration of the ** Swiss Cheese Awards of 2018 ** we were able to verify under the foothills of the alps that, indeed, There is no such cheese as Swiss.
First things important: a Gruyère d'Alpage AOP won the award for best Swiss cheese at the 11th edition of the Swiss Cheese Awards, in which they have participated 965 cheeses; the winners have been Maurice and Germain Treboux from the Alpage La Bassine cheese factory in St-George (in the canton of Vaud) who have won the award in a rigorous selection process.
We know because there we were like part of the jury , tasting all the cheeses of each one of the **28 categories and 550 cheeses**, directed by Bernard Lehman , director of the Federal Office of Agriculture and at an award ceremony presided over by Robert Küng, President of the Government of Lucerne. And here the cheese is important.
It is breathed in the street, in the markets and in the restaurants. On the slopes of each canton and in the speech of every Swiss with whom you talk about cheese: it is important, cheese is important . Because for them it is more, much more than a food made from the curdled milk of cows, goats or sheep , cheese is a flag, a way of saying to the world “This is what we are” , and precisely because this is what we take care of until exhaustion.
We take care of each part of the process (from the grazing to the farms, from the milk to the last store) because we love it, because it defines us and because we are what we do, and our heart is in everything we do. How not to take care of it?
Swiss cheeses are famous all over the world thanks to the artisanal care with which they are made, but something you do not fully understand until you are there, next to the cellars, the shepherds and their particular way of understanding life : tradition (and legacy) is what makes us better. Unique.
What envy how clear they have it.
To them we owe the Swiss cheese. In other words, we owe them everything.
This is why grazing cows is mandatory in Switzerland : Eighty percent of the cattle's feed is made up of meadow grasses, hay and herbs that are a natural part of the mountain (the milk can never come from cattle fed on silage) . That's why the use of hormones and antibiotics in breeding is prohibited and that is why no cheese from Switzerland can use additives for its production.
That's why every cheese (until the last one) has name and surname , because traceability is synonymous with honesty and clear things; also for that their cheeses are made with freshly milked raw milk which is received twice a day: milk is not pasteurized because the processes (supervised by the AOP Appellation d'Origine Protégée) do not give rise to errors, just one small detail: to be a master cheesemaker you need seven years of study. Seven.
That is why for the elaboration of a Swiss cheese it is used twice as much milk as an industrially produced cheese , that's why they are different depending on the season of the year (like almost any natural product) and that's why do not contain lactose or gluten , because they live attached to a more natural way of doing things; lactose-free because they are subjected to long maturation periods and gluten-free because their cows do not feed on feed, but on grass.
It is not a sales strategy: it is a way of understanding life . Your cows are part of your emotional ecosystem, so they are honored, respected and cared for, what would be the point of locking them in a factory?
Swiss cheeses are small capsules of distilled love, and the fermented essence of a people attached to tradition, territory and love for things well done.
Le Gruyère AOP cheese factory
THE BEST SWISS CHEESES OF 2018
The great Swiss champion: Le Gruyère d'Alpage AOP, Maurice and Germain Treboux, Alpage La Bassine, St-George VD
Emmentaler AOP : Andreas von Wyl, Käserei Neudorf AG, Neudorf LU
Le Gruyère AOP: Alexandre Guex, Fromagerie Châtonnaye, Châtonnaye FR
Le Gruyère d'Alpage AOP. : Maurice and Germain Treboux, Alpage La Bassine, St-George VD Sbrinz AOP: Martin Flüeler, Flüeler Milch und Käsespezialitäten, Alpnach Dorf OW Appenzeller: Christian Tschumper, Käserei Ifang, Degersheim SG.
Tilsit made from raw milk: Paul Koch, Käserei Dozwil, Dozwil TG
Graubünden cheese: Dionis Zinsli, Sennerei Sufers, Sufers GR
Raclette du Valais AOP: Felix Arnold, Sennerei Simplon Dorf, Simplon Dorf VS
Grilled cheese raclette without flavored additives: Girenbader Raclette geräucht, Christa Egli, Chäsi Girenbad, Hinwil ZH
Grilled cheese raclette with flavored additives: Seiler Raclette Paprika, Felix Schibli, Seiler Käserei AG, Sarnen OW
Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP : Laurent Python, Laiterie-Fromagerie Grandvillard, Grandvillard FR Vacherin Mont d’Or AOP: Serge André, Fromagerie André SA, Romanel-sur-Morges VD
Tête de Moine AOP : Christian Kälin, Christian Kälin SA, Le Noirmont JU
Bloderkäse and Sauerkäse AOP: Werdenberger Sauerkäse AOP, Thomas Stadelmann, Käserei Stofel AG, Unterwasser SG
L'Etivaz AOP: Jean-Louis Karlen, Alpage La Sottanuaz - Les Tesailles, La Lécherette VD
Berner Alp- and Hobelkäse AOP: Berner Hobelkäse AOP, Martin Herrmann, Alp Barwengen, Saanen BE Formaggio d’Alpe ticinese PDO: Alpe Pontino PDO, Marco Togni, Alpe Pontino PDO, Airolo Ti
Glarner Alpkäse AOP: Fritz Tschudi, Alp Heuboden, Ennenda GL
Brebis cheeses: Le Marcel, Yves Barroud, Les ateliers, Leysin V.D.
Goat cheese: Bûche Cabrifol, Benoît Kolly, Laiterie du Mouret, Ferpicloz FR
Fresh cheese: Goat fresco, Bernard Claessens, D. & J. Conod SA, Baulmes VD
Soft cheeses and with flower rind: Engelberger Tomme, Walter Grob, Schaukäserei Kloster Engelberg AG, Engelberg OW
Blue cheese : BIO Blaui Gibä, Georg Hofstetter, BIO Genuss Käserei Hofstetter GmbH, Ruswil LU Soft cheeses with rind : Galait, Agnès Spielhofer Beroud, O'Lait Sàrl, St-Imier BE
Other medium-hard cheeses without flavored additives: Heumilch Genuss, Josef Werder, Küssnachter Dorfkäserei GmbH, Küssnacht am Rigi SZ
Other medium-hard cheeses with flavored additives: Urnäscher Holzfasskäse, Paul Koller, Urnäscher Milchspezialitäten AG, Urnäsch AR
Other hard cheeses: Schwyzer, Peter Inderbitzin, Annen Herbert AG, Steinen SZ
Innovations in cheese: Engelwy Tomme, Walter Grob, Schaukäserei Kloster Engelberg AG, Engelberg OW
Tasting Laboratory (Journalists Award) : Sbrinz AOP, Thomas Schnider, Alpkäserei Fluonalp, Giswil OW
Sbrinz AOP