page_title: Hirtenkäse
section_title: Color, texture and taste
hierarchical_section_title: Hirtenkäse / Color, texture and taste
context_page_description: Hirtenkäse, or "herder's cheese", is a distinctive cow's milk cheese made in the Allgäu area of Southern Germany.
  Traditionally, cow herders bring their cows from the Alps into Allgäu each fall in mid-September. September 18 typically "marks the official start of the Almabtrieb, or descent, a day celebrated with a festival ...." Hirtenkäse is made from the milk from these cows. It is usually aged eight months.
context_section_description: This cheese is "golden" and "Buttery yellow in color...."
  Its texture and taste are "rustic, savory and firm textured... with a rugged, earthy aroma."
  It has been compared to other hard cheeses of Europe:
  In texture and flavor, the 14-pound cheese resembles a cross between Parmigiano-Reggiano and aged Gouda, with a firm golden interior and aromas of butterscotch and orange peel. ... Even at eight months, the cheese has developed some of the crunchy protein crystals found in Parmigiano-Reggiano. But additional aging makes the cheese creamier, not harder and dryer. It has a waxy texture - it even smells waxy - but it isn't crumbly like Parmigiano-Reggiano or firm enough to grate. The flavor is concentrated, with the cooked-milk sweetness of a caramel.
  — Janet Fletcher, San Francisco Chronicle
caption: Allgäu apotheke (Allgäu Pharmacy)
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