Switzerland, Alpkäse, and Finding Meaning in Cheese
Olivia
Poster Girl for Ruosalp and, perhaps, the happiest cow ever.
If you follow the shop on Instagram (please do!), you may remember some photos I posted last June, when I had the trip of a lifetime to visit our “adopted” Alpine family on Ruosalp. We’ve had Alpkäse (“mountain cheese”) in the shop for a year now through the Adopt-an-Alp program, and have had the chance to learn about traditional cheesemaking and sustainable dairy farming first hand.
Thanks to Caroline and Daniel Hostettler of Quality Cheese, a few of us in the Adopt an Alp program were invited to visit Switzerland to meet Alpine cheesemakers and farmers. I still find words inadequate to capture the extraordinary beauty of the land, the generosity of the people, and the power of the traditions that support this work. The Swiss clearly recognize that their Alps are treasures, and all of us visiting were deeply moved by the cheesemakers’ commitment. These Alpine farmers are true stewards of their land.
If you come in to taste Alpkäse right now, you’ll have a sample of wheels from 2018 production, which means the cheese is about 15 months old. Wheels from this past summer of 2019 should arrive within the next month, and it will be fun to taste the two years’ production side by side. The more mature cheese in our cases now has mellowed since last year, with a deeper flavor and lingering finish. The texture is still beautifully rich and smooth (fondue, anyone?) after aging in the Hergers’ mountainside caves.
I’m sharing a few photos here from the day we spent on Ruosalp, where Max and Monika Herger and their family welcomed our group into their home. We sat in their kitchen and shared a meal and lots of laughs (Max’s laugh is truly infectious), and then we toured their cheesemaking room, their caves and their extraordinary mountainside. Whenever I taste Ruosalp cheese, I’m reminded of this family and their hospitality. Max sends his greetings and thanks from Switzerland to all of you; his ever-present smile grew wider every time we talked about how much enthusiasm our customers have for Alpkäse.
My takeaways from the trip:
Alpine cheeses are the products of hundreds of years of tradition, with land and skills and stories passed down through generations. This is true craftsmanship.
The tradition of the Alps is one that embodies the best agricultural and land management practices, deep respect for herd animals and their welfare, and appreciation for the environmental legacy we will leave for generations to follow.
Alpine meadows are extraordinary examples of biodiversity. Some of the fields we saw contain more than 500 different varieties of plant species, which provide optimal nutrition for grazing animals, enhance soil and air quality, and just happen to be quite beautiful.
When I think about why cheese matters, I think about these small Swiss producers. Their work is a living example of cultural and environmental preservation. This is what food is supposed to be - the cheese encapsulates all the rich nutritional value of the ecosystem as part of a sustainable agricultural cycle, and when shared it connects us to our planet and our fellow humans in a truly meaningful way.
On a slightly less serious note: these cows are the Olympic athletes of their species. They climb mountains! Their reward for that exertion is a summer of free roaming through what must feel like a candy shop of grasses, flowers, herbs, and legumes, with fresh spring water and sunshine. I’ve seen a lot of farm animals, but these girls were without question the most beautiful cows I’ve ever encountered, living what has to be pretty close to the ideal bovine life. And their goat compatriots seemed equally happy!
