Of Water and Cheese — Gruyeres and Its Cheese

Gruyeres (pronounced gree-EYRE) is a town about an hour northeast of Lausanne.  It is famous for its cheese, made at La Maison Du Gruyeres.

Milk, the Essence of Great Cheese

Every cheese starts with the cows that make the milk.  The milk farmers of Gruyeres graze their cows in the meadows of Swiss Alps at high altitude.  The cows feed not only on the green pastures, but also on the floral growth there, such as lavender.  As such, their milk comes with its own special aroma.  This source of milk guarantees the quality of the Gruyeres cheese.

The Economics of Cheese-Making

The economics of cheese-making at Gruyeres goes like this.  A cow eats 100kg of fresh grass and drinks 85 litres of water to yield 25 litres of milk, which it produces morning and evening.  The cows are milked by machine to ensure its purity.  There are checks on acidity and germs.  The hard cheese of Le Gruyeres is made from natural unpasteurized milk.

Each 400 litres of milk will turn into 35 kg of cheese.  Overall, 2,200 milk producers deliver 345 millions litres of milk to the cheese-makers.  This would become 870,000 wheels of Gruyeres cheese.

The Making of Gruyeres Cheese

I have noted, on my first day in Switzerland, how seriously the Swiss take their cheese.  I found the reason in Gruyeres.  Cheese-making is a traditional industry in Switzerland.  The region in which the cows are raised, the milk is sourced, the cheese is produced and matured is a seal of craftsmanship.  The process of production is fiercely regimented.  After all, it becomes a tradition only because it is tried-and-true.

The milk is heated at 32 degrees Celsius.  Then the cheese-maker adds a natural starter, which coagulates the milk.  When the milk is coagulated, it is sliced up.  Then it is kept at 57 degrees Celsius to firm up.  The critical technique is for the cheese to retain its elasticity and consistency without breaking.  The mixture is pressed for 16 hours.  During this time, it is turned regularly.  The juice (whey) comes out.  The cheese is kept in a salt bath for 24 hours.  Then it is placed in a cellar, with small amount of ammonia for it to age and ripen.  Five months later, a crust will form.  That would be the time that the cheese sells in the market.  The cheese can continue to age beyond five months.

At the cheese museum we saw the actual tools that La Maison du Gruyeres uses for all processes of production.  It was eye-opening.  These equipment were organized, sanitary and modern all in one.

Maturity Makes a Difference

Perhaps the most educational part of the tour was the cheese tasting.  When we bought our tickets, the staff handed out a packet of cheese pieces, aged in 5 months, 8 months and 10 months.  As we waited for our fondue at the museum restaurant, we opened the packet and tried.  One after another, the pieces did have a distinguishable difference.  We all agreed that the 8-month tasted better than the 5, and the 10-month tasted better than the 8.  I am no expert on cheese, but the most aged piece had the richest flavor.

Cheese-Making as a Tradition

When speaking of Swiss cheese one must know the idea of AOP (appellation d’origine protégée).  In English, it means the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).  Cheese that bear the AOP designation are “produced, processed and refined in a clearly defined region.”[1]  This means that the “milk is sourced from the same region in which it is made into cheese and in which the cheese is matured.”  There are currently twelve cheeses in Switzerland that meet the AOP standards, and Le Gruyeres is one of them.

Coming from America, however, when we say “Swiss cheese,” we are referring to the Emmental.  You know, the mice that demanded, “Who Moved My Cheese?” Then the image comes thus the mouse with its yellow cheese with holes.  That is in fact Emmental cheese.  Emmental is another cheese region in Switzerland, located in the Canton of Bern.  In Switzerland, Emmental is also an AOP-bearing cheese.

Last, but certainly not least, the medieval town of Gruyeres is really worth a good tour.

[1] AOP and IGP: Quality Labels with Character, CheesefromSwitzerland.