Hard Core Swiss Vacherin Cheese

fx

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 12:25:01 GMT

Thanks Cindy!

fx

Thu, 3 Mar 2016 13:00:23 GMT

They are in the phonebook tel.search.ch I think.

taylor

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:19:08 GMT

People are still falling in love with your blog. I just stumbled over here yesterday and I"m mesmerized by your stories and images. Thank you for sharing such great stories that will be appreciated as long as they"re out there.

Cindy

Sat, 1 Sep 2012 22:12:35 GMT

I see by the dates of these articles that I am very late in arriving in your beloved mountains. I was in Suisse when I was a nine year-old girl and again in 1991 and I have never forgotten how green and how lush it was. I was amazed to see water flowing out of the rockfaces along the roads. I hope that the changing climate will not bring an end to the magic the armailli are doing.

We have got to hold on to the old ways of growing and making food. I have often pondered why food-borne illness is so common now and I believe it is because we "build" our food in such sterile plants that the pathogens can easily take hold. Making food in the traditional methods that used to be very common probably kept these pathogens in check--salt brines, wood ashes, strong home-made soaps, hot water, muscular arms--these are still ingredients for safely-made food. The world needs more appellations controlees, especialities d"maisons and community-sponsored farms.

I am almost crying at the memory of Gruyere; unfortunately I never got to savor Vacherin.

I am loving this journey through Valais and other wonderful places. Thank you.

Erick

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:53:22 GMT

Thanks for that beautiful and passionnate article.
I have a favor to ask you : would it be possible for me to contact Mr Fran�ois R�my or Yvan Brodard ? I am looking for a cheesecloth manufacturer in Switzerland and it is not easy to find one. My cousin leaves in Argentinia and he"s making cheese and he"s looking to buy this fabric directly from Switzerland.
I"m sure they could help me in this search. Thanks in advance for your help, I appreciate your attention.
Erick

Anna

Tue, 24 May 2011 23:25:32 GMT

Dear FX,

What a beautiful article! I was reading it, and my hand were literally itching for these curds - especially for this fitting squares into a circle part. You do speak Russian, do you? Так вот, руки чешутся...

I am an artisan cheese maker, and I am planning to go to Switzerland in a month with my family. Can you suggest a cheese making chalet that would allow us to visit? Preferably not to high in the Alps.

Thank you so much!

I will keep on reading your blog.

All the best,

Anna

Anthony

Thu, 6 May 2010 22:39:54 GMT

This is a fabulous article. As a novice home cheese maker, it is exciting to see how the cottage industry works. What these people are doing here is most likely the same as it was done 500 years ago. I am very impressed.

Anthony
Florida, United States

fx

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 04:50:22 GMT

Steve, this is great news, I feared overzealous US custom officials might have forbidden the importation of this unpasteurized delicacy...

Steve

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 15:10:43 GMT

Alpage greyer is available in the US from some specialty stores such as Zingerman"s and Artisan Cheese - they get a few wheels a year. It is $30 or more a pound plus exspensive 2-day shipping. I wish I had some now.

fx

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:20:44 GMT

Geoff, glad you liked it!

Geoff Ball

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:37:20 GMT

Wow. Great. Wonderful.
Great story, great photographs, great article. I wish I was living back in Europe.
Canada is a great place but I miss lots of the great food, especially the cheese.

zafar

Sun, 9 Nov 2008 02:08:24 GMT

this is wonderful

fx

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:36:40 GMT

Guy, I told about your story of jumping in the lake in the wake of Le Savoie to a friend just yesterday! Are you sure that "alpage" cheese is legally importable in the US? I saw a booth for US raw milk cheeses at the Slow Food Fair, so it"s not impossible, but the production of fromage d"alpage is really tiny and confidential compared to the huge United States, it seems so improbable you could find it there.

Guy Zebert

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:10:30 GMT

Bonjour Francois,
Your articles are always great and never miss to make me homesick.I remember going to Charmey with my parents for summer vacation.Now I have to research where to find some vacherin d"alpage in southern California for my next fondue.

Le Vaudois de Pully.

fx

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:18:34 GMT

No problem - I had two flashes, one shooting through an umbrella and placed on a light stand facing the cheesemaker and wirelessly synched to my camera, then another one attached to a beam using a contraption known in the trade as a Manfrotto/Bogen Superclamp. Then bang, bang, bang, picture properly lighted every time. I wish I had used a higher sync speed on some pictures though, and also would have needed another body for the spontaneous shots since my camera being all on Manual to do this I had many dials and buttons to change to grab a quick shot of some side action.Check on www.strobist.com for more on this. Hope this helps.

Taz

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:33:43 GMT

Lovely article, I enjoy the glimpses of life and work of the armalli with their interesting (albeit tough) occupation. Your pictures are excellent as usual, but as these were shot on site in seemingly dark indoor areas, I"m just wondering about the lighting, if you don"t mind sharing your tricks! Did you use the white umbrellas couples with portable flash?

fx

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:35:16 GMT

Jason, glad you like my little articles! In fact I do this mostly on my off-time, sometimes manage to take a morning off to go up the mountain see some cheesemakers. The castle thing was initiated by a reader of this blog. Cheese definitely is one great product, especially when made by the same hands who care for the cows, there is just magic in that product!

Jason Sandeman

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:04:10 GMT

I want your job. I am so insanely jealous. How can you do this all the time? Does your head not want to explode with all this coolness that you get to witness on a daily basis? C"mon man, castles... monks, cheese. What more is there to life?
Seriously though, it is nice to experience in pictures the amount of work that goes into the cheese. You see, I am constantly harping on the cooks/apprentices about respecting food items like cheeses and such. I will be directing my apprentices to this post and quizzing them on it, and I hope that they will have a newfound respect for the product that they are using. Hopefully I will NEVER see cheese wrapped up in plastic wrap again. Thank you for that.

fx

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:36:57 GMT

Jos�, the mechanical accessories are really a tiny part of this, I don"t think they could milk the cows by hand and get the job done, they would need many helpers for this!

fx

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:35:07 GMT

Fran I am confident this particular ancient craft might survive for quite a while, there are young cheesemakers making it all over the place in Switzerland.

fx

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:34:27 GMT

Alys, indeed this is very traditional, the only modern thing is a small motor to turn the cheese curds for half an hour.

Alys

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:43:17 GMT

A wonderful combination of traditional with some modern adaptation. Thanks again!

Fran Magbual

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:33:33 GMT

I think it"s wonderful that you are documenting the work of these artisans. More people need to appreciate these ancient crafts that are disappearing.

Jos�

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:59:11 GMT

Hi,

Great presentation of how traditional cheese is made, even if some mechanical accessories are used.
As you know, Portugal is also a country where one can find cheese among the best in the world.
My preference goes for those made out of sheep and/or goat.

Kind regards,

Jos�

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:55:31 GMT

Chef4cook, I am glad to say that there are still many alpine meadow cheesemakers and young people to replace them when they retire. It"s such a privilege to see this done today much like it was centuries ago, and not for tourists, you can"t really reach any of these chalets unless you know where to look!

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:53:34 GMT

Karine, I am most impressed you know about fondue au vacherin, that"s the cheesemaker"s fondue, the real thing put just on a small candle rather than a full heater. For the viande des grisons I am not such a fan but soon there"ll be a post about Tyrolian Speck, much better in my opinion!

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:51:34 GMT

Rosa, thanks and make sure you get proper vacherin d"alpage next time you buy some!

Rosa

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:20:42 GMT

That"s one of my favorite Swiss cheeses! Thanks for the interesting post!

Cheers,

Rosa

Karine

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:54:25 GMT

Bonjour Francois!

This time I will write in English (hope there"s no mistake)

Thank you for this great article, I often do my cheese fondue with Vacherin Fribourgeois (easy to find in Quebec), it"s such a good cheese and of course, "la viande sechee des Grisons" which I would love to see how it"s done. Maybe in another great article of yours...

A la prochaine
Karine

chef4cook

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:50:26 GMT

Francois, What a wonderful insight into a rapidly disappearing
art.

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:15:51 GMT

Real chiffonade, I"m glad you liked this artisan"s way of life and their extraordinary products. It does look so simple, but the flavor that comes out this cauldron is so complex. One feels there is nothing to change to the process.

chiffonade

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:09:34 GMT

As a huge lover of cheese, it never ceases to amaze me how something so wretched looking in various stages of its development can morph into pure luxury in the mouth. Gruyere is one of my favorite cheeses for cooking because it doesn"t get lost in any dish where it"s used.

The work ethic of these old-school cheesemakers is truly inspirational. I"m glad they do what they do.

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:01:38 GMT

Will it does not smell much like cheese but rather like smoke, there are huge quantities of smoke and only a small hole in the ceiling to evacuate it ...

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:01:04 GMT

Ahmet, I think they add a starter culture to the milk to increase the acidity and that"s for all cheeses, the problem is I never seem to arrive early enough to take pictures of the culture. But it looks like yoghurt, and then they add the rennet a couple hours later. For the whey cheese I"ll post another article in a couple weeks!

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:59:37 GMT

Jill thanks for visiting and glad this brought you back pleasant memories of the Gruy�re!

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:59:11 GMT

Diane they were eating day old s�rac, a hard and lean cousin of slothy ricotta. Soon I"ll post an article about yet another cheesemaker (a cheesemakress in fact) who will show you all about s�rac-making!

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:57:51 GMT

Mya glad you liked the article and good luck for your exams!

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:56:27 GMT

Kelly, thanks for visiting and sorry about the Google Adsense humor with the Pampers ad! I can"t really do without advertisement as the bandwidth is humongous. I"m glad to do this blog for free but having me pay for the bandwidth is not possible. And I don"t want to ask for donations. Perhaps I could do a paid membership with no ads?

fx

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:54:36 GMT

Kim thanks for your appreciation, indeed the two vacherins are much different and not made in the same mountains, and yet many people think it"s the same!

kim

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:53:50 GMT

I adored your article. I"m passionate about cheese, am fortunate enough to travel almost weekly to Paris and am continually researching cheeses to taste during my travels. I was a bit confused about the difference between vacherin fribourgeois and vacherin d"alpage. I"m certain you"re extremely busy, but if you have an opportunity could you drop me an email? I would be grateful. I"m sure I"ll be looking for both, anyway.
Loved your pictorial, as well. It makes me happy to see the beautiful ritual and craft of cheese making; definitely an art form. How lovely you were privy to such a time honored tradition.
Thanks for the peek inside
-kim

Kelly Shannon

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:41:45 GMT

Good morning Fran�ois,
I was so enjoying your article until, while reading about hygiene, an ad for Pampers diapers appears right underneath the photo of the Yvan removing the curds with what could be mistaken for an enormous, leaky diaper!
Is there any way you could ditch the ads? I so enjoy your documentaries. I look forward to reading your next entry when a reminder pops up in my mailbox. The very romantic voyage is soon spoiled by the bombardment of commercialism. Is there no way to proceed, as does the magazine The Sun, without advertising? Please give it some serious consideration; your work is too beautiful for distractions from the world of brainwashing.
Yours sincerely,
A big fan of your work

mya

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:26:01 GMT

Hi Fxa fantastic article once again I enjoy reading your articles they keep me entertained during revision breaks I shall have to find some of this cheese would love to try itBest WishesMya

Diane Duane

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:19:03 GMT

Fabulous as always, FX!

I"m curious about the cheese you describe the armailli as having for breakfast. You say it"s a "fresh whey cheese". Is it hard or soft? (because most of the whey cheeses I know are fairly hard.) Did they tell you anything about how it was made?

Best! -- Diane

Jill

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:12:09 GMT

Once again Fran�ois, a beautifully evocative article with wonderful photographs. I used to do a lot of walking in the hills around Gruy�re. Thank you for bringing it all back!

Ahmet Cihat Toker

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:02:48 GMT

Wow great article! So this is a rennet only cheese? unlike your earlier cheese making posts there were no bacterial support. can you taste the difference?Finally is fresh whey cheese similar to ricotta? do you have some info on how it is made?

will

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:56:37 GMT

Looks great, how cheesy does it smell in there?