Swiss Cheese

Swiss cheeses and dairy products

Switzerland has a strong and ancestral dairy farming and cheesemaking tradition. The breeding of cattle, sheep and goats for milk is attested in the Neolithic period and, since Antiquity, cheese has been exported from the Alpine regions. The rugged nature of the country makes approximately 80% of the agricultural land unsuitable for cultivation, which is therefore mainly exploited for cattle and sheep farming. This mode of exploitation has forged a large part of the Swiss landscape, in the Alps, the Jura and on the Swiss Plateau.

List of Swiss cheeses

This is a list of the varieties of traditional cheeses made in Switzerland. Switzerland produces over 475 varieties of cheese, a milk-based food produced in a large range of flavors, textures, and forms. Cow's milk is used in about 99 percent of the cheeses Switzerland produces. The remaining share is made up of sheep milk and goat milk. The export of these cheeses, some 40% of production in 2019, is economically important for Switzerland.

Swiss cheese (North America)

The term "Swiss cheese" is used for any variety of cheese that resembles Emmental cheese, a yellow, medium-hard cheese that originated in the area around Emmental, Switzerland. It is classified as a Swiss-type or Alpine cheese. The term is generic; it does not imply that the cheese is actually made in Switzerland. Some types of Swiss cheese have a distinctive appearance, as the blocks or rounds of the cheese are riddled with holes known as "eyes". Cheese without eyes is known as "blind".

Cheese

Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by curdling of milk, usually from cows, goats or sheep, and sometimes of water buffalo. During production, milk is usually acidified and either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity are added to cause the protein casein to coagulate. The solid curds, consisting of proteins and milkfat, are then separated from the liquid whey and pressed into finished cheese. Some cheeses have aromatic molds on the outer layer or rind, while others have them throughout.

swiss

Verb

1. To prepare (meat, fabric, etc.) by rolling or pounding in order to soften it.

cheese

Noun

1. A dairy product made from curdled or cultured milk.
2. Any particular variety of cheese.

Verb

1. To prepare curds for making cheese.
2. To make holes in a pattern of circuitry to decrease pattern density.