How To Buy A Fine Swiss Cheese

If you want to get the best swiss cheese available, “fine” is the type you should be looking for. A fine swiss cheese will be more expensive, but the quality of the cheese will truly be worth the cost.

Basics Of Swiss Cheese

Here in the United States, we call any cheese with holes in it “swiss cheese”. In fact, the term “swiss cheese” has become a descriptive work of its own, meaning something where there are holes in it – like a “memory like swiss cheese.” Actually, swiss cheese is just a generic name for any type of holed cheese, It can be made in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, or the United States...in fact, at this time, the largest swiss cheese factory in the world is in Ohio. All cheeses with holes are trying to simulate the cheese made in Switzerland, known as Emmetal.

There are other types of holed cheese in Switzerland, such as Gruyére, but Emmetal is the most fine type of swiss cheese there is. Guyére is imitated a lot. The holes are much smaller, and much more evenly spaced in the cheese. It is also aged longer, often 10-12 months. It is made from a cow's milk with a greater amount of fat, so it is a sweeter cheese. As a swiss cheese, it melts easily and can be used with almost any part of the menu – appetizer, entree, or dessert.

Baby swiss cheese can be fine, but as it is made in ways to comply with government regulations (regarding aging time and whether milk is pasteurized prior to making into cheese) this is difficult to assertain. The holes are much smaller due to the shorter aging time. Also, the flavor is sweeter and milder.

The holes are made by the bacteria involved in making the cheese. One of the bacteria consumes one of the other bacteria's byproduct, lactic acid, and then excretes carbon dioxide gas. The gas develops into bubbles, which turn into holes as the cheese solidifies.

How This Helps You Choose A Fine Swiss Cheese

A fine swiss cheese will have larger “eyes,” and a greater flavor. The stronger flavor is caused by the longer aging time and the higher temperature, and these also lead to larger holes in the swiss cheese.

In the United States, it can be hard to find a fine swiss cheese that is pre-sliced (our favorite way to buy cheese) because the cheese with the holes can catch in the slicing machinery and cost them time and money. Consequently, in the United States, the swiss cheese manufacturers usually make a swiss cheese – fine might even be on its label – that is less aged and has less flavor than an imported cheese.