Emmenthaler Mature

Emmenthaler is probably one of the most famous and most certainly the easiest of cheeses to recognise, not only in Switzerland, its home, but all over the world where it’s eyes or holes make it stand out amongst other cheeses.

Emmentaler was first mentioned in written records in 1293, but was called by its present name in 1542. It has a savory but mild taste and forms part of the traditional list of ingredients for a classic fondu, however it is equally at home on the cheeseboard alongside its Swiss cousins; Gruyere and Raclette.
The holes or ‘eyes’ in the cheese are caused by strands of hay that have fallen into the open buckets of milk prior to the milk being poured into the copper cheese vats. Once the milk is heated these strands of hay cause a weakness in the curd structure allowing gasses to escape and thus cause the holes or eyes. Historically, the holes were a sign of imperfection, and until modern times, cheese makers would try to avoid them. Nowadays, eye formation is valued as a sign of maturation and quality. The larger the hole the better the cheese and the tastier it will be.
The colour of Emmenthaler will depend on when the milk was gathered for the cheese production. From November to April the cheese is almost white due to the cattle being fed hay whereas cheeses produced between May and October will have a more pronounced yellow colour due to the lusher grasslands the cattle feed upon.

Each cheese weighs between 75 and 120 kg and is approximately 100cm in diameter. It takes 12 litres of milk to make 1kg of the cheese and so each cheese uses between 900 and 1440 of cows milk in total hence it being called the “King of the Cheeses”