Primeval Tyrolian Cheese

fx

Tue, 8 Mar 2016 15:02:43 GMT

Ah well this is beyond my knowledge, and the cheese has a very strong acidic taste that is immune to cravings!

Miss M

Wed, 9 Sep 2015 09:08:13 GMT

fx, thanks so much for the useful pictures. I live in California and crave this cheese from Ortisei. Can you provide the recipe adapted to make the cheese at home without the special equipment such as a barrel and with store-bought milk? At home the only milk available is ultra pasteurized. Thanks!

Miss M

Tue, 8 Sep 2015 23:02:12 GMT

Ina

Sat, 3 Dec 2011 08:44:51 GMT

this is one of my all time favourtite cheeses and I have serious graukas cravings on a regular basis. I only ever get to eat it every few years when visiting austria, and the riper the better! Graukas soup is also one of my favourites.

fx

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:23:13 GMT

Kraab, this sounds like an intriguing dish with Graukaese. It would probably be easier to do this cheese yourself at home than to try and find it commercially in the US of A!

kraab

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:59:20 GMT

Hi, love your site! This is the first time I"ve seen graukaese since I was in Austria over 30 some years ago. I used to make a baked dish with it that I still remember fondly. It was made with spaele, butter fried brown onions and crumbled graukaese, baked until melted and a tad brown. Served with a green salad and crusty bread. I"ve tried to replicate it here in the states but just can"t find the right tasting cheese. Looking forward to trying out your recipies. kraab

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:13:41 GMT

I have all sorts of nightmares with non-commercial cheeses left in my fridge. I ought to sell the recipe to the military for an organic poison gas one of these days.

Haik

Sat, 7 Aug 2010 07:06:45 GMT

I bought 3 types of Tirolian cheese from Austria but didn"t have time to try them right away. When got back home that night I put them in fridge righ away. Next morning I thought there was a dead rat in my fridge. The smell was horrific. I still wondered if they would go bad in 6 hours, untill I saw your article.

fx

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:11:02 GMT

Thank you John! I have visited your site, this is an interesting project, however for Gruy�re you need to update the translation (Greyerz in German, Groviere in Italian, etc...) - just a minor point of course.

John, webmaster @ CheeseForum.org

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:24:29 GMT

Some wonderful pictures and stories on cheese making and uses, thank you very much!

fx

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 12:21:12 GMT

Elmar, ich werde versuchen, eine Uebersetzung von diesen Artikel in Deutsche zu bekommen. Sonst sind die Bilder schon auf Deutsch!

elmar

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 09:30:31 GMT

the articl is much interessant but i have not understanding
my english is not god, is it possible to have a german test for the articl "cheese"

fx

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:42:41 GMT

Cynthia I really don"t think this cheese is sold beyond the confines of S�dtyrol and Austrian Tyrol, let alone exported abroad.

Cynthia

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:49:38 GMT

I am not a cheese lover but when I have it, I like a really sharp cheese, I think I would like this... will I be able to purchase a variety such as this in the US?

fx

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:39:58 GMT

Thanks Gaetano!

fx

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:39:41 GMT

Parshu, I am not sure this is the right cheese to introduce your wife to the delights of European artisan food!

fx

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:39:17 GMT

Jason, in fact you might be able to heat up the milk/curds just high and long enough to kill off any excess listeria and still make this cheese I think.

Jason Sandeman

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:35:34 GMT

Two things set the stage here: raw milk, and tradition. Another excellent post about a subject dear to my heart. Indeed, I doubt that the cheese would pass muster here in Quebec, Canada, as they pitched so much cheese with a listeria scare. It literally broke my heart seeing millions of dollars in artisan cheese go down the tubes, "to be safe."

I think I have a reason to visit this region, just to sample the cheese that could raise the dead. Yum!

parshu.narayan

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:26:09 GMT

Aha, a genuine artisanal European cheese with no rennet. Maybe I can persuade my vegetarian wife to try a little "Gray-Cheese" one day when we come as tourists.

gaetano

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:58:55 GMT

Fascinating and charming at the same time. Great story!

fx

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:52:40 GMT

James, it all depends on the cheese, but I suspect they are all from pasteurized milk and not from artisan operations if you buy them in supermarkets. There are some exceptions though, I recommend you check the company called Neil"s Yard, they have a shop or two in the US and deal with really great cheeses (for the anglo saxon world that is, you"ll have much bigger shops in France and Italy).

fx

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:49:49 GMT

Laura, the mazo was full of moulds on the wood benches where they laid the cheese, much like the bearded French man"s cheeses in my article about the Slow Food Fair. But nowadays everything is clean and consumers wouldn"t like gray moulds.

Laura D.

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:43:17 GMT

The U.S. has been making world-class cheeses for quite a few years now: Cypress Grove (as another commenter already mentioned), Carr Valley, Juniper Grove, Marin French Cheese Co., Old Europe Cheese--the list goes on. Check out greatamericancheese.com for a listing of producers and retail outlets. I only mention Great American Cheese because when I was a restaurant cook, we got our cheeses from them, and one gluttonous day the chef and I tasted something like 40 cheeses with a representative. Ouf! That was too much even for me. But the range and quality of these American-made cheeses was stunning.

And a question on the Graukaese: Why exactly did they used to turn gray, and why don"t they anymore? Is it that the ambient molds are different now or the mazos just had more mold? Cheese-making kitchens are cleaner? I feel a need to know.

James

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:16:53 GMT

Thanks for sharing. I am learning about cheese. I am American and majority of us know nothing about cheese. We all eat American cheese. So I am learning via you and will try all kinds of cheese. I do not know if imported cheeses in our supermarkets are that good or just cheap or fakes?

fx

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:38:34 GMT

Angelica, if you like cheese Italy is the place to go, they have even more types of cheese on record than the French. Every country market is a cheese festival!

fx

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:37:20 GMT

Vaio, the box is just made of wood with a mesh to keep rats and flies out. The cheese is kept in a cellar, slightly colder and more humid than room temperature, but but nothing special besides that.

fx

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:36:18 GMT

Joanna, I doubt you can find this one outside Tyrol (Austria and Italy) - not much of a market I suppose!

fx

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:35:36 GMT

Pietro, this is a mighty fine joke about the musical cheese! Almost all Graukaese today is made in semi-industrial cheese workshops and not in farms anymore. I think you"d need to eat quite a lot to have to face the "music"!

fx

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:33:29 GMT

Chiffonade, indeed there are tons of cheeses you can make at home, ricotta and mozzarella and many others. You can even make blue cheese!

fx

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:30:14 GMT

Carolina, I think Graukaese is strong in the taste and weak in the smell, whereas Linburger is just the opposite! As for the dream job indeed it is but we live here in the Alps never far from an interesting cheesemaker, so it is a really accessible pursuit!

fx

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:28:22 GMT

Carolina, maybe you could try and recreate it at home, it is not that difficult to make your own cheese after all. But I"ll make my first before saying it"s easy.

fx

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:27:06 GMT

I have even seen a US dairy at the Slow Food Fair in Torino!

fx

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:26:29 GMT

Rosa, this one should satisfy your appetite from strong cheese beyond expectation!

Rosa

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:14:53 GMT

Wow, interesting ;-P! I"m an amateur of strong cheeses... Thanks for the info!

Cheers,

Rosa

kurzhaar

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:05:13 GMT

Chiffonade wrote: "Nation of birth doesn"t matter, as long as it"s good cheese."

So true. In addition to Maytag Blue, there are increasing numbers of excellent artisanal type cheeses being made in the US. Look for Cypress Grove cheeses (e. g., Humbolt Fog goat cheese) and Cowgirl Creamery cheeses (e. g., Red Hawk washed rind cheese). Happily, these can be found at better cheesemongers in many parts of the country.

Carolina

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:30:31 GMT

I got so curious about my own question I went to Wikipedia to see if I could "search down" the cheese. I did, it was called "Liederkranz", and it is, very sadly, no longer produced. In fact, the company that used to make it now produces only "processed" cheeses. Intriguingly, there is a rumour that the culture is still being kept alive. I wish someone would buy it, if true, and begin producing it again. It was SO good.

Carolina

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:18:26 GMT

BTW; The "Limburger-style" cheese to which I was referring was sort of a "cross" between Limburger and Brie. It tasted and smelled like Limburger, but came in small wheels like Brie, and ripened the same way Brie did, with the soft, powdery rind, with a lovely creamy texture (until it was "over-ripe"). I haven"t had this in over 30 years, but would so love to try it once more.

Carolina

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:05:09 GMT

I"m usually quite adventurous, but after reading the comment about "Kase mit Musik", I"m not too sure I would want to try this one. I do like most strong cheeses, even Limburgerwhen I can get it. There"s an American cheese made in Wisconson that"s close to Limburger, but I can"t get it here, and can"t remember the name of, but it is delicious. If anyone knows which one I"m talking about, could you refresh my memory please? I would love to get some of it again, maybe I could order it on the internet. Anyway, I"m sure if someone gave me a sample of Graukase, I would happily try it. I lived in Germany for several years, and had many wonderful cheeses there. Thanks for all your interesting article. You have my "dream job", although you don"t get paid for it. We all appreciate it. (Every time I get your email saying there"s a new article, I rush straight here.)

chiffonade

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:04:03 GMT

Cheese. The subject is so near and dear to my heart. Being Italian, cheese is very important to me. Italian, German, even American (Maytag Blue!) - Nation of birth doesn"t matter, as long as it"s good cheese.

Ironically, I just saw a recipe for homemade ricotta I"m dying to try. Hardly as flavor packed as the cheeses you showcase here, I"m still itching to try my hand at ricotta. More a "mouthfeel" experience because of its mild flavor, ricotta has its own purpose in the spectrum of cheeses. It"s a good baby step into cheesemaking.

You"ve inspired me!

<3 Chiffy

Pietro Basile

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:47:39 GMT

We used to eat Graukase in the late 60 and early "70s in Prettau ( at the very end of the valley that starts in Campo Tures) but it was eaten by cutting slices ( or shards) of it on a plate and then dressing it with pepper, raw onion and olive oils ( as you said there"s very little fat content). We were actually told that it was so lean because not only was first butter made from the milk but also regular cheese. What was left was re-heated, much like "ricotta". So it was like the third extraction from the same milk.
I guess Marta Hofer"s process provides a richer and more palatable cheese that doesn"t need to be dressed up.
It was jokingly called by the local " Kase mit Musik" and they were all too happy to explain to the newcomers: You first eat the cheese: the music comes later...:-)
We recently paid a visit to the area (after almost 20 years after we moved from Milan to Tuscany) and bought some Graukase at the large Senni cheese factory in Bruneck but have not eaten it yet ( my wife said we need to be certain we can face the "Musik"...).
I now wonder if it is made in the new style or in the old one. Humm, must try it but not tonight, as we have American friends visiting...
Thanks again
Pietro

Joanna

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:56:46 GMT

Fascinating. I will have to ask for it next time I"m at the cheesemonger.

Joanna

vaio

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:26:56 GMT

Congratulations! Another fine article. Have few questions.
What is �maturing box� made of, and what is special about it (if any)? For those 10-15 days at what temperature do they keep the cheese? What are the conditions?
And finally what do you mean by �You only eat the exterior as it matures�?
Thank you and looking forward for the next article!

Angelica

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:11:13 GMT

A cheese festival! I simply HAVE to go!
Oh, and the Grauk�se sounds horrible; I"d love to try it!