The Sentinel. [volume] (Trenton, N.J.) 1880-1882, 1882-11-04
Swiss Cheese.
Some Facts About Its Manufacture in
Switzerland.

Tne manufacture or cheese in
Switzerland, says Consul Adam of
Geneva, is one of the most ancien t
industries of the country, instruments
for this purpose having been found in
different parts among the ruins of the
lake dwellings. In the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries the produc-
ton had grown large enough to
become the subject of legi Station, as
appears from some curious DEGREES @ f
Berne, Glaris, Appenzsii and other
countries. prescribing the size and
weight of the cheeses, and forbidding
the manufacture of certain sorts, or
any ex portation to foreign countries.
The modern manufacture dates from
the Introduction, eighty or ninety
years ago, of the cultivation of artifi-
cial FODDER and the system of stabling
| cattle, now universal in the lower
valleys and the plains. The several
varieties are classifi cd either according
to consistency of material, as hard"
firm" or soft" or according to the
proportion of fatty matter, and I" rich,u
medium" or according TO the coagu-
lation, whether by rennet Ia pressure
or by sour milk Ia lait aigre). The
best is the Emmenthal, a round
cheese, eighty to one hundred cent?
meters in diameter, ten to fifteen GEN.
timeters thick, and weighing from
fifty to one hundred k1logrammes, and
like all the rich cheeses (faonsages
grass which retain nearly all the
elements of the milk, its nutritive
value is high. Next in Importance is
the Gruyere, called after the village of
Fribourg, cheese about seventy CEN
tlmeters in diameter, and weighing
about forty-five kilcgrammes. 1t has
come into great repute within the last
ten years, since the formation of q
wealthy society for its manufacture in
Ffibourg. 1t is manufactured In much
the same way as the Emmenthal,
except that third or more of the
cream is removed, whence it is classed
as q migras," or medium. The Spalen,
so called from the manner of packing
for shipment, is q medium cheese,
about fifty centimeters in diameter,
and weighing twenty kilogrammes,
and made in much ruder manner
than the Emmenthal and Gruyere.
It comes from Unterwalden, Uri,
Schwyz, Lucerne, and is sent to Italy,
where it is used grated with maccaroni,
rice, p3lenta, etc.
The cheese of the canton of Appen-
zell, long famous for its fine cattle and
excellent fodder, differs in certain
qualities from all the other Swiss
varieties. In making it the curd is
triturated in bassoir, moulded with
out pressure or sailing, and finally
treated with brine of water, wine
less, or white wine, pepper and salt,
which gives it a pungent odor and
flavor. something between the Swed-
ish and Italian cheeses. The exact
formula for the brine is secret, and
as with most of the Swiss cheese, the
process of manufacture is only to be
learned in Its own country, where the
traditional method has been handed
down for generations. The size of
this cheese is generally about thirty
centimeters thick, and it weighs about
eight kilogrammes. A very remark
able cheese, also, is the Schnabziger,
or green cheese, and which some
writers hesitate to class as cheese.
The popularity of the Schnabziger is
due chiefly to the method of coagula-
ton, by All instead of rennet, and
partly to treatment by the zigeries
(naelilotas eerulea), plant grown for
the purpose in Schwyz. The Gessenay
Is made in the high pastures ABOUT the
village OF that name in Berne and else
where in the Overland. 1t is cream
cheese OF fine and aromatic flavor,
very hard and keeping well for years.
Its nutritive qualities are high, and it
Is largely used, like the Spalen, grated
with soup, maccaroni, etc. A similar
cheese is made in the canton of the
Valais. This Is, perhaps, the richest
OF ail the Swiss varieties and has q
peculiar flavor of its own. The pro-
cess OF manufacture has greatly inn
proved since 1872. Less durable but
equally nutritious and palatable, and
of the same general character is the
Cristaiina, made in the valley of the
Medels Grisons. The Vacherin is the
only soft cheese OF large size made in
Switzerland, and there are two kinds
-one made near Gruyere and in ap-
pearance resembling the cheese of
that name the other is made i'm the
valley of the Jura. The latter Kind is
about thirty centimeters In diameter.
six centimeters thick and weighs five
kilogrammes. It is sold IN drums,
and if perfectly matHred has an ex.
quisite flavor.