How to Identify Swiss Cheese

Swiss cheese, or Emmentaler as it's called in Switzerland, dates back to the 15th century. Swiss is a cow's milk cheese, and some Swiss cheese wheels weigh up to 200 lb. Popular on sandwiches and in fondues, Swiss cheese can enhance the flavor of almost any meal. Here are some tips for how to identify Swiss cheese.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Look at the Swiss cheese. If the product has a large number of "holes" throughout the wheel, it's likely to be Swiss. These holes are created when escaping gas expands and "pops" the bubbles, forming the common Swiss cheese holes.

2. Smell the Swiss cheese. Swiss cheese has its own unique smell that resembles a nutty yet tangy cheese.

3. Consider the color of the Swiss cheese. A typical Swiss cheese will be yellow to pale yellow with a waxy appearance. Different varieties of Swiss cheese have slight differences in color and appearance.

4. Buy differing varieties of Swiss cheese such as Jarlsberg, Comte and Blarney. Blarney has the taste and consistency of Gouda cheese. Jarlsberg is from Norway and exhibits a creamy, buttery taste. Comte cheese is similar in taste and form to a Gruyere cheese.

5. Understand that today's true Swiss cheese is almost always made from cow's milk. In earlier times, sheep milk and goat milk were used as the primary ingredients until their populations fell.

Tips & Warnings

• Use Swiss cheese as a fondue. Swiss cheese melts easily and lends itself to dipping or pouring. Fondue pots can hold a melted Swiss for dipping vegetables, bread and meats.
• Eat a delicious baby Swiss cheese. This cheese is similar to traditional Swiss cheese, yet the whey used in traditional Swiss is replaced with water to slow bacterial growth.

Resources

• Here is a wonderful breakdown of Swiss cheeses.
• Read Swiss cheese history and information.

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