Bernese sliced cheese
A Bernese alpine cheese that has been stored for at least two years is called Berner planed cheese . It is a spicy, full-fat raw milk cheese without holes; the alpine cheese is a hard cheese, the sliced cheese an extra hard cheese. The cheese is made exclusively by hand on a wood fire in a copper kettle.
Both Berner Alpkäse and Berner Hobelkäse have a protected designation of origin ( AOP ). The production area is limited to the more than 500 Alps in the Bernese Oberland and individual Alps in adjacent areas.
The cheese is made exclusively in recognized alpine businesses during the alpine season. Only untreated milk from cows that are free to graze on non-fertilized alpine pastures may be used as milk. The milk from the cows is not only particularly tasty thanks to the alpine herbs, but also contains a large proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids . That is why a higher content of omega-3 fatty acids can be found in Bernese alpine and planed cheese compared to cheeses from the valley area . These fatty acids have a beneficial effect on the heart and circulation in the human diet.
The cheese must be made no later than 18 hours after milking. As a rule, the chilled evening milk is partially skimmed in order to achieve the correct fat level of at least 45%, and then cheese together with the fresh morning milk. The milk is heated to 33 ° C, then a bacterial culture grown on the Alp in Sirte is added along with the rennet . After half an hour, the curd is chopped up with a cheese harp into grains the size of a pin. These are then heated to 50 ° C, whereby the grains contract further and at the same time unwanted bacteria are killed. The cheese mass is filled into a cheese mold, the so-called Jär, and pressed for at least 15 hours. The cheese wheel is then placed in a salt bath for 24 hours. The cheese wheels of a maximum of 15 kg ripen at a humidity of over 85%, whereby they are regularly brushed with salt water. The first ripening time is on the alp, later the cheese ripens in the producer's cellar or in local dairies.
After a ripening period of 6 to 18 months, the alpine cheese is ready to be consumed. Only alpine cheeses of the highest quality are processed into sliced cheese. The second ripening period of at least one year takes place in a much drier climate, and the loaves are no longer washed.
The annual production is around 1000 tons of alpine cheese, a third of which is processed into sliced cheese. About 75% of the production is marketed directly by the producers, the rest goes into general trade.
The alpine cheese is mainly consumed as semi-hard cheese. The dough of the sliced cheese is too brittle to be cut. Sliced cheese is usually a cheese slicer served planed into thin slices and rolled, or even in small Möckli broken.
The Berner planed cheese is closely related to the Sbrinz . Sbrinz, however, is mostly produced in valley farms and in much larger loaves (20–45 kg) and is significantly salty as it stays in the salt bath for 15 to 20 days.
Web links
- casalp.ch variety organization for Bernese alpine and planed cheese
- Specifications for Bernese Alpkäse and planed cheese (PDF file; 176 kB)
- Agroscope : Berner Alpkäse AOC and Berner Hobelkäse AOC
- Berner Alpkäse / Berner Hobelkäse in the database of Culinary Heritage of Switzerland
- Traditional production of Bernese alpine cheese in pictures
Individual evidence
- ↑ Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER and Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG: Specifications for Berner Alpkäse and Berner Hobelkäse
- ↑ Christa Hauswirth, Martin Scheeder, Jürg Behr: High -3 Fatty Acid Content in Alpine Cheese , Circulation. 2004; 109: 103-107 ( Memento from January 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive )