It comes from Switzerland, my child.
Or at least Gruyere cheese does.
Being an aficionado of all things cheesy, a visit to the Maison du Gruyere was an absolute must on my visit to Switzerland last summer.
The Maison is located just below the lovely hilltop town of Gruyeres in the Swiss canton of Fribourg. Inside you'll find informative displays about the cheese-making process, a restaurant, and a gift shop. But best of all, you can actually watch cheese being made. I know. I was excited too.
Or at least Gruyere cheese does.
Being an aficionado of all things cheesy, a visit to the Maison du Gruyere was an absolute must on my visit to Switzerland last summer.
The Maison is located just below the lovely hilltop town of Gruyeres in the Swiss canton of Fribourg. Inside you'll find informative displays about the cheese-making process, a restaurant, and a gift shop. But best of all, you can actually watch cheese being made. I know. I was excited too.
This is where Gruyere cheese is born, children!
So. The first thing to see here is the museum, where you will learn that any good cheese starts with cows. Or maybe you already knew that. But what you might not know is that a cow's diet will actually influence the flavor of the cheese made from her milk! So cows used to make a particular kind of cheese must be sent to a pasture with a particular combination of plants to make a cheese with the right flavor. The museum (which comes with a nice audio tour) will educate you on all of these various plants and take you through the whole process from cow to delicious, delicious cheese.
But on to the good stuff:
But on to the good stuff:
Where the magic happens.
At the end of the museum you emerge on an elevated walkway overlooking the cheese-making area. There is a schedule on their website that even tells you what times they will be doing each step of the process so you can time your visit to show up at for your favorite part. I know!
The first step is to heat up the milk in these huge vats. Once it's at the right temperature they then add a culture and rennet, which curdles the milk. It takes 45 minutes for the milk to curdle, then it is stirred with these big metal arms to break up the curds into smaller pieces.
The first step is to heat up the milk in these huge vats. Once it's at the right temperature they then add a culture and rennet, which curdles the milk. It takes 45 minutes for the milk to curdle, then it is stirred with these big metal arms to break up the curds into smaller pieces.
Once the cheese is the right consistency, they drain the vat and transport the liquid through pipes into the molds. The molds have to have these white plastic inserts because there is so much extra liquid (mostly water), which must be drained out. The liquid slowly drains out, while the solid curds remain behind.
After the liquid drains, the white insert is removed, and they are left with a mass of curds in the metal mold.
They place those black numbers on top to denote what date the cheese was made - May 26th in this case.
There is still a bit of liquid left, so the next step is to compress the curds. Discs are places on top of the curds and they are fitted with a metal apparatus that will press down on the cheese and squeeze the remaining water out.
There is still a bit of liquid left, so the next step is to compress the curds. Discs are places on top of the curds and they are fitted with a metal apparatus that will press down on the cheese and squeeze the remaining water out.
And that's about it! This batch of cheese is moved to the lower surface to compress, and empty molds are set up on top ready for the next batch.
An empty mold - ready for the next batch!
Of course the final step in making cheese is to age it. Gruyere typically ages from 5 to 12 months. The longer it ages, the stronger the flavors become. As part of the tour, they give you three free samples of Gruyere at different ages - 5, 8, and 12 months - and you can really tell a difference. The 5-month one was pretty mild, and the 12-month one was REALLY strong! So I liked the 8-month one the best.
You can take a peek into their aging room just off the main lobby.
You can take a peek into their aging room just off the main lobby.
How old are you, little cheese?
If you're hungry after all that (..."if?") you could eat in the restaurant in the Maison, but it's well worth it to make your way up to the village of Gruyeres. Or better yet stay there overnight like I did! Many people make day trips to Gruyeres, so it gets crowded with tourists in the afternoon, but if you stay the night and visit the village in the morning or evening, you'll have the place almost all to yourself.
There are lots of really excellent hotels and restaurants in town to choose from. The restaurants, naturally, have a lot of cheese entrees, including the traditional Swiss fondue and raclette. And if you're going to eat cheese in Switzerland, why not do it literally right up the hill from where they make the cheese?!
There are lots of really excellent hotels and restaurants in town to choose from. The restaurants, naturally, have a lot of cheese entrees, including the traditional Swiss fondue and raclette. And if you're going to eat cheese in Switzerland, why not do it literally right up the hill from where they make the cheese?!
On the path leading up to Gruyeres
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The main street in Gruyeres.
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This is the view out of my hotel window. I KNOW! Beautiful.
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