“RARE” CHEESE

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 88, 12 January 1928, Page 7

“RARE” CHEESE

THE MAKING OF GRUYERE. How do they put the holes into Swiss cheese? Everybody, of course, knows tho music-hall joke about the old woman with one tooth’ who' is supposed to work overtime at tho job; but probably not two persons in a hundred have ever heard the truth about thi« little mystery. Some people have a vague idea that/the holes are deliberately created' to fill up space; others maintain that they are only inserted for purposes of decoration. Both, however, are a very long way from the truth (“"rites Robert Scott in the “Newcastle Weekly Chronicle”). Gruyere cheese,- or, to be more accurate, Emmenthaler, would be just about as palatable without holes as, say, lager beer without froth. Holes are the hallmark' of quality, and the bigger the holes the better the cheese. In fact, the cheese with these mysterious cavities are so much in demand in America that experts art hard at work “trying to find a formula," as they say at the League of Nations, for making the holes larger and more numerous. It has been said that Swiss cheese is preferred in America because it is so largely used for making sandwiches, and the holes sell just as well as the cheese for this purpose. But every cheese-eater in America knows perfectly well that it is not the; holes they cherish, but. the rich, nutty flavour which their, presence de-, notes, and which has made Emmenthaler famous all over the world. The merit of Emmenthaler is dne to a very small cause with a very big' effect, a tiny microbe which is responsible for the fermentation of the m'lk before it turns into cheese. With the aid of this benevolent germ the acid salts in the milk, are converted into carbonic acid gas,; which, during the process of manufac-; ture, produces bubbles of different sizes. As the mass cools these gradually evaporate, leaving the cheese pitted with holes. Switzerland produces about <£5,000,000 worth of cheese every year, her chief rival being the United States, where the manufacture of Emmenthaler is said to have reached a high standard. After a few years of research Michigan experts claim to have discovered a process whereby it is now possible to con- 1 trol the size of the holes and market high-grade Emmenthaler at lOd. a pound. This' threat to one of their staple industries has not unduly perturbed the Swiss. Anyone can put holes in Cheese, they reply, but not all the dollar bills ever'printed can produce the aromatic Alpine fodder on which Swiss cattle are fed. A good story is told about a distinguished foreigner who was being shown over one of the largest dairy farms in the Emmenthal. For a time he watched the bubbling cauldrons in silence: then, turning to the dairyman, he asked, “And how do vou put the big holes in the cheese afterwards?” “Oh! that’s very simple." said the farmer. "You just takeji hole and put a lot of cheese round it.”