A Brief History of Swiss Cheese

Swiss cheese has always been a favorite kind of cheese. Not only does the cheese taste great but the large holes that are found in every single slice make it a visually stimulating cheese. The holes that make Swiss cheese so easy to identify are created during the production of the cheese. When the producer knows that they are going to be making Swiss cheese, they add some gram-positive bacteria to the starter culture. This particular type of bacteria creates carbon dioxide bubbles which are what gives Swiss cheese its famous holes. In addition to being responsible for creating the holes, the bacteria also helps give Swiss cheese its unique nutty yet sweet taste.

The general population is so accustomed to calling Swiss cheese, Swiss, that we sometimes forget that the name is not used all over the world. If you go into a cheese shop in the United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand and order Swiss cheese you will get the cheese you are familiar with. However if you go anywhere else in the world it is difficult to determine exactly what type of cheese you will end up with. In Europe, if you want the holey mild tasting cheese you will have to ask for Emmental cheese. The use of the word Swiss merely refers to the cheeses origins, not its actual name.

Swiss or Emmental cheese was first produced in Switzerland. The cheese first appeared in the West Central region of the country, an area that has long been known has the Emmental area. This particular section of Switzerland has large rolling areas that are perfect for pastures. For thousands of years the local farmers have been using Emmental's pastures for grazing their dairy cattle. When the cows were milked, part of the milk was set aside to be turned into cheese.

The unusual appearance and incredible taste of the emmental cheese, combined with the sweet nature of the local dairy farmers inspired a writer to pen a series of novels that revolved around Emmentals cheese and dairy industry.

Historians believe that the farmers in Emmental first started to produce the Emmental cheese sometime during the 1300's. However it wasn't until the early 1800's that the cheese started to become popular with people who didn't live in the region. The reason for the increased popularity is because of the creation of Emmental's very first cheese dairies. The development of these dairies allowed Emmental's to finally produce a large enough quantity of the cheese to market it to other areas of the country and eventually the world.

Although Swiss cheese is currently being produced all over the world, the cheese you get when you visit Emmental is just a little bit different. The dairy farmers in Emmental are very careful about what their cows eat since this effects the cheeses final flavor. Emmental cows are never fed silage, and during the summer when they can graze in the pasture, the cows dine on herbs as well as the natural herbs. The average dairy farmer in Emmental only owns about twenty cows which better allows them to care for each animal in a way that means the cow produces top quality milk.

-Written by Lilly Babineau