Appenzeller (cheese)

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Appenzell cheese

Appenzeller is a Swiss type of cheese , named after the Appenzellerland in Switzerland, where the cheese has been made since the Middle Ages . The landscape around the Säntis delivers the raw milk with which Appenzeller cheese is made. 52 village cheese dairies in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden , Appenzell Ausserrhoden and in parts of the cantons of St. Gallen and Thurgau produced a total of 8,696 tonnes (in the 2018 financial year), which was bought by a central organization and marketed under the registered brand “Appenzeller® Switzerland” . Around 53 percent of Appenzell cheese is sold abroad, around 78 percent of which in Germany, followed by France and the Benelux countries with much lower proportions. The production volumes have essentially stagnated in recent years.

marketing

The variety organization is based in the Salesis house in Appenzell

The term "Appenzeller Cheese" is not a protected designation of origin under Swiss law, but a collective brand of the Appenzeller Cheese GmbH variety organization based in Appenzell , which organizes milk and cheese producers, the cheese trade and the Appenzeller Cheese Foundation. She buys Appenzeller cheese from the manufacturers and markets it in Switzerland and abroad. The variety organization is responsible for quality control, marketing and advertising, as well as determining production quantities and sales prices. Cheese that manufacturers produce in excess of the specified quantities cannot be sold under the brand name “Appenzeller”; For this reason, a number of cheese dairies offer cheese under different names that is at least very similar to the original Appenzeller and significantly affects its market success.

In its advertising, the variety organization emphasizes the traditionality and the spicy taste of the product and particularly emphasizes the “secret recipe” of the herbal brine (the liquid with which the cheese is cared for during maturation). Well-known advertising figures are the herdsmen (alpine shepherds) in traditional Appenzell clothing , whose secrecy guarantees secrecy, for example in a series of commercials for television advertising with the German actor Uwe Ochsenknecht , who tries to elicit the recipe from them. The campaign won several advertising awards.

properties

Appenzeller cheese is a semi-hard cheese in Switzerland (according to German nomenclature: semi-hard cheese ) that is produced in two variants: as full-fat and quarter-fat cheese ( Rässkäse ). The loaves are round with a diameter of 20–30 cm, a height of 12–15 cm and a weight of 6–8 kg. The side of the jar is slightly arched; a perfectly straight side is considered a cheese fault. The rind is firm with a yellowish-gray-brown smear, the dough is elastic, soft-cut and greasy, of a slightly yellowish color and has a few, regular, round holes that are about the size of a corn kernel to a cherry stone. The smell and taste are described as pure, mild and aromatic; Depending on the time of maturation, a distinction is made between “mild” and “recent” (more mature) cheese. Incidentally, the Rässkäse is stronger than the full-fat cheese.

The variety organization gives the manufacturers a minimum fat content of 50% fat i. Tr. and a minimum proportion of 58% dry matter, for the quarter-fat cheese 20% fat i. Tr. and 48% dry matter.

Manufacturing

Appenzeller is a raw milk cheese , which means that it is made from cow's milk that has not been thermally treated . For the production of the full-fat stage, the kessi milk should have a fat content of 3.3–3.5%. Fresh morning milk is mixed with chilled evening milk, brought to a renneting temperature of 30–31 ° C and acidified cultures and rennet are added. After about half an hour, the milk is thick and can be cut into curd cheese . This is then warmed up for a while at 42–46 ° C (cooler with lean cheese) and then pulled out of the sirte , filled into molds and pressed. After that, the cheeses are twelve hours (sometimes also eight to ten days) left before going for one to three days at temperatures of 8-14 ° C in a salt bath of 18-20  ° Be come. After leaving the salt bath, the loaves are regularly brushed and salted for about ten days to encourage the formation of smear .

A specialty of Appenzeller is the treatment with the so-called "Sulz" , a special liquid with which the cheese is treated during the maturation . It is said to be composed of wine, yeast, salt, spices and other ingredients. In the past, the cheesemakers kept the exact recipe of their respective broth as a family secret, but now it is standardized and regulated by the variety organization. The ripening time is four to six months for the full fat cheese and six to seven months for the quarter fat cheese.

use

Appenzeller can be used in a variety of ways as a table cheese, but also in warm dishes. Mild types are good for fondue or raclette , stronger types as a spicy addition to fondue, a classic Appenzeller dish is Appenzeller cheese flatbread .

history

The manufacturers of Appenzeller cheese can refer to a history that goes back to the Middle Ages , more precisely at least to the 13th century , because the earliest documented mention of the cheese is a document in the St. Gallen monastery archive from January 15, 1282 in which the retirement of the abdicated abbot Rumo von Ramstein has been resigned. In addition to 100 silver marks, he also received goods in kind every year. Among other things, he had to pay:

Item de Gaise in maio una libra et Verene sexaginta casei, quilibet valens octo denarios, et decem solidi in eodem festo.

In German: A pound [money] from Gais in May and on St. Verene's Day [1. September] sixty cheeses, each worth eight deniers , and ten solidi on the same festival .

Even if this is the first mention in a document, cheese levies from Appenzell are mentioned in numerous Rödeln of the St. Gallen monastery , some of which go back to the 12th century , but are not dated. In general, cheeses were the most important donation of the Appenzell population to the monastery at that time, with alpine cheese, casei alpini, often being specially numbered; in the late Middle Ages the amount rose to over 5,000 cheese per year.

A description of how the cheese was made cannot be found in these sources. They were probably small, soft cheeses, as reheating of the curd was not yet practiced.

Originally, Appenzeller cheese was primarily a product of alpine farming , but over time the dairies could no longer meet the increasing demand, so that production was increasingly relocated to valley dairies, which were better equipped and had more milk. The traditional vessels and working methods were given up. In 1942, the office for Appenzell cheese was founded in St. Gallen . In the course of the abolition of the Swiss cheese market regime, today's variety organization was founded.

Web links

Commons : Appenzeller  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Annual report 2018 (PDF; 2.49 MB) Variety organization Appenzeller Käse GmbH, 2019, accessed on December 4, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Detailed view of brand no .: 2P-433383. In: Swiss trademark protection register. April 8, 2014, accessed February 21, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b Annual Report 2012 ( Memento from July 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) of the Appenzeller Cheese GmbH variety organization (PDF, 2.3 MB; accessed on July 30, 2016).
  4. ^ Daniel Etter, Samuel Krähenbühl: Cracks in a healthy Appenzeller cheese world. In: Swiss farmer . November 1, 2012, accessed February 21, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Cheese tourist Ochsenknecht. ( Memento from August 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Tagblatt Online , October 14, 2009.
  6. ↑ Semi-hard cheese. Appenzeller, Tilsiter, raclette. In: Swissmilk . Retrieved February 21, 2016 .
  7. ↑ a b c d Heinrich Mair-Waldburg: Handbook of cheese. Cheese of the world from A – Z; an encyclopedia . Volkswirtschaftlicher Verlag, Kempten (Allgäu) 1974, keyword "Appenzeller", p. 277 .
  8. ↑ Certificate: St. Gallen, Stiftsarchiv (1004-1500) B.4.B.1 in the European document archive Monasterium.net .
  9. ↑ Werner Vogeler: January 15, 1282 - Appenzeller cheese was first mentioned in a document . In: Swiss Folklore . tape 71 . Basel 1981, p. 103-105 .
  10. ^ Agricultural information service LID: Variety organization for Appenzeller cheese stands. In: Mediendienst Nr. 2365, June 4, 1998 ( online , accessed July 24, 2016).