This region is also known as the Emmental area. This area is ideal for pastures with its large rolling fields. A part of the milk obtained from the cows was used to make cheese. Very soon, cheese became synonymous with Emmental. According to history, it was as early as that the Swiss cheese started to be produced in Emmental. It was however only in the s that the first ever cheese dairies came into existence here.
This in turn made the cheese very popular even with people who did not live in this region. Gradually many dairies were developed in Emmental which resulted in the production of cheese in large quantities. Swiss cheese was then marketed to other areas and eventually all over the world.
Today, Swiss cheese is available throughout the world but visit Emmental and taste the cheese and you cannot miss the extra local flavour. Therefore, it makes sense that agriculture is very important to them. Switzerland has approximately varieties of cheese, made from cow, goat, and sheep milk. Is Swiss cheese actually from Switzerland? It is a variation of the Swiss Emmentaler cheese. Because it resembles the Emmentaler cheese in appearance and taste, North Americans have named it Swiss cheese, and because North American culture has perpetuated itself worldwide, many others around the world refer to this cheese in the same way.
As the efficiency of the transport system improved, people were able to settle the more remote Alpine valleys. In the early days of the Confederation, cheese was not only the principal food, but was also in widespread use as an alternative means of payment to money.
In fact, cheese was welcomed as a substitute for money even outside the Confederation. Thus alpine herdsmen used to carry their wheels of cheese over the Alpine passes to Italy and trade them for spices, wine, chestnuts and rice.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Alpine dairymen brought their surplus cheese down to the valley to sell. They were obliged by law to sell their goods on the markets themselves, since the authorities disapproved of intermediate trading. As the cheese trade grew, however, it became impossible to prohibit the activity of middlemen.
The cheesemonger was a necessary link between the alpine herdsman and the consumer. They had what the alpine herdsman lacked: storage space and capital as well as marketing expertise and a customer network.
As late as the 18th century, cheesemongers were still taking linen and fustian, coffee and tobacco to Alpine huts and farmhouses as payment for the wheels of cheese. In those days, the same basic hard-cheese recipe was used throughout Switzerland.
Local differences in the cheeses came about as a result of the different sizes of mountain pastures and varying methods of treatment during the ripening process. The more cows that spent the summer on the mountain pastures, the larger the cheese wheels that could be produced.
But there are also cheeses made from camel milk, water buffalo milk — even moose milk. To make cheese, you need to add bacteria to the milk. Variations in the amount and type of bacteria influence the taste and texture of the final product. Some cheeses are aged for as long as 18 years. So why does Swiss cheese have holes? Under the specific conditions that Swiss cheese is made, the P. Because Swiss cheese is made at a warm temperature — around 70 degrees Fahrenheit — the cheese is soft and malleable.
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