cattle grazing on
alpage pastures Swiss-type cheeses, also known as Alpine cheeses, are a group of hard or semi-hard cheeses with a distinct character, whose origins lie in the
Alps of Europe, although they are now eaten and imitated in most cheesemaking parts of the world. They are classified as "cooked", meaning made using thermophilic lactic fermentation starters, incubating the curd with a period at a high temperature of 45 °C or more.
fromages à pâte pressée cuite in French. Their distinct character arose from the requirements of cheese made in the summer on high Alpine grasslands (
alpage in French), and then transported with the cows down to the valleys in the winter, in the historic culture of
Alpine transhumance. Traditionally the cheeses were made in large rounds or "wheels" with a hard rind, and were robust enough for both keeping and transporting. The best known cheeses of the type, all made from cow's milk, include the Swiss
Emmental,
Gruyère, and
Appenzeller, as well as the French
Beaufort and
Comté (from the
Jura Mountains, near the Alps). Both countries have many other traditional varieties, as do the Alpine regions of Austria (
Alpkäse) and Italy (
Asiago), although these have not achieved the same degree of intercontinental fame. Most global modern production is industrial, and usually made in rectangular blocks, and by wrapping in plastic no rind is allowed to form. Historical production was all with "raw" milk, although the periods of high heat in the making largely controlled unwelcome bacteria, but modern production may use
thermized or
pasteurized milk. The general eating characteristics of the Alpine cheeses are a firm but still elastic texture, flavor that is not sharp, acidic, or salty but rather nutty and buttery. When melted, which they often are in cooking, they are "gooey" and "slick, stretchy and runny." Another related group of cooked pressed cheeses is the very hard Italian "grana" cheeses; the best known are
Parmesan and
Grana Padano. Although their origins lie in the flat and (originally) swampy
Po Valley, they share the broad Alpine cheesemaking process, and began after local monasteries initiated drainage programs from the 11th century onwards. These were
Benedictine and
Cistercian monasteries, both with sister-houses benefiting from Alpine cheesemaking. They seem to have borrowed their techniques from them but produced very different cheeses, using much more salt and less heating, which suited the local availability of materials. ==Brined==