Saturday, January 15, 2011

Cheese of the Month: Appenzeller




Appenzeller is a Swiss cheese from the Appenzell canton. Known as 'the spiciest cheese in Switzerland', it acquires it's unique flavour during the ripening process, when the rind is regularly washed with a herbal brine. The unique herbal brine is made from distilling a selected mixture of herbs, roots, leaves, flower petals, seeds and rinds. The recipe for the brine is so secret, that apparently there are currently only 2 people who know the exact recipe.



There are three main types of Appenzeller, the difference between each being the amount of time the cheese is ripened for:

Appenzeller Classic: 3 months
Appenzeller Surchoix: 4 months
Appenzeller Extra: 6 months



Cheese enthusiasts will be glad to know that there is a show-dairy in the mountain village of Stein, where you can learn all about the cheese and the production process.



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