[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″ width=”100%”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.7″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”20px” text_line_height=”1.5em” text_font_size_tablet=”19px” text_font_size_phone=”18px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop”]The Gruy\u00e8re cheese is named after the town of Gruy\u00e8res in the Fribourg canton. Gruy\u00e8re is hard, dense, pressed, and boiled cheese made of cow\u2019s milk. The cheese has a fruity flavour at first, but it becomes increasingly nutty as it ages and absorbs more salt. [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.7″ text_font_size=”20px” text_line_height=”1.5em” text_font_size_tablet=”19px” text_font_size_phone=”18px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop”]The cheese\u2019s history traces back to 1115, if not earlier. Medieval writings include mentions of full-fat cheese that was sold to as far as France and Italy. Gruy\u00e8re is made in both Western Switzerland and the parts of Eastern France that border Switzerland, but only Swiss cheese can carry the origin-protected name \u2018Gruy\u00e8re AOP\u2019.<\/b>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/gruyerestories.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ND_2020_GRU_Campaign-Nordics-2020_Lowres-98.jpg” title_text=”ND_2020_GRU_Campaign Nordics 2020_Lowres (98)” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.4.5″ width=”100%” width_tablet=”100%” width_phone=”” width_last_edited=”on|tablet” box_shadow_style=”preset3″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″ width=”100%”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/gruyerestories.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ND_2020_GRU_Campaign-Nordics-2020_Lowres-33.jpg” title_text=”ND_2020_GRU_Campaign Nordics 2020_Lowres (33)” _builder_version=”4.4.5″ box_shadow_style=”preset3″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.7″ text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1.5em” text_font_size_tablet=”” text_font_size_phone=”” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop”]<\/p>\n
Cheese master Nicolas Schmoutz<\/b> and his assistants start their day early. At seven in the morning, milk producers arrive at the village\u2019s cheese dairy, Fromagerie de M\u00e9zi\u00e8res, to deliver fresh and still warm morning milk. <\/p>\n “We work with 42 milk producers every day. The cheese dairy is an important meeting place for villagers. We believe it is important to transfer our cheesemaking know-how to the next generations. Our cheese dairy trains three apprentices every year”<\/strong>, heese master Nicolas Schmoutz says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The M\u00e9zi\u00e8res dairy receives 5.3 million kilograms of milk each year. It is one of the largest cheese dairies in Fribourg.<\/p>\n Cheese master Schmoutz greets the producers cheerfully while taking laboratory samples of the milk batches. Each batch is checked before use.<\/p>\n When the milk batches from the morning have been checked at the M\u00e9zi\u00e8res dairy, the fresh milk is poured into a 6,000-litre vat and mixed with the milk from the previous evening, which has been left in the vat overnight to settle. <\/p>\n The cheese master adds bacterial culture, made from whey through lactic fermentation, into the milk. The bacteria are taken from the previous night\u2019s whey. Next, rennet is added into the vat. Rennet is a natural additive sourced from the stomach lining of young calves, and it helps curdle the milk and separate the protein from the whey. A litre of unprocessed cow\u2019s milk contains approximately 33 grams of protein. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″ width=”100%”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.7″ text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1.5em” text_font_size_tablet=”” text_font_size_phone=”” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop”]<\/p>\n It takes about 30 minutes for the milk to turn into solid, fine paste. Raw milk is not heated before curdling to retain all its fine aromas.<\/p>\n The curd is cut with large, rotating cutters into small granules that resemble cottage cheese. After this, the temperature is gradually raised up to 57 degrees Celsius. This takes under an hour.<\/p>\n Next, the hot curd is poured into round moulds. Each mould has the words \u201dLe Gruy\u00e8re AOP\u201d and the licence number of the dairy engraved in it. The white cheese is also marked with casein, a type of milk protein. The mark shows the number of the cheese wheel and the cheese producer, as well as the production date.<\/p>\n Extra liquid is extracted from the wheels by pressing them with a force of up to 900 kilograms for about 20 hours. After pressing, the wheels are put in a brine bath with a salt content of about 22 per cent for 24 hours. The brine bath has three important effects in terms of the cheese\u2019s flavour, shelf life, and cellar maturation: even more liquid is removed from the wheels, they absorb salt, and start forming a rind.<\/p>\n After the salty brine bath, the maturation process starts. The wheels are taken to the cellar where they rest on wooden planks for three months. They are regularly turned and washed with brine.<\/p>\n\n
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