Today’s cheese has a different name depending on what country and language you happen to be buying it in. The cheese itself, that is to say the label in the home country of Switzerland, says Gwitterchäs. This is of course Swiss German for Lightning Cheese. Swiss German, in German, is called Schweizerdeutsch. In Schweitzerdeutsch, though, you don’t say Schweitzerdeutsch, you say Schwizerdütsch or Schwiizertüüsch, and you don’t say Gewitterkäse you say Gwitterchäs. That is, if you’re speaking Schweitzerdeutsch/Schwitzerdütsch. If you’re speaking Deutsch which is to say German than you say Gewitterkäse unless you’re speaking a local dialect in which case it might be more like Gwitterkäse or Gewitterkäs or Gwitterkas. Really it’s a wonder this cheese ever made it all the way over to my local cheese stand in Munich. München. Minga.
Origin: Toggenburg, Schweiz
Milk: Cow, heated but not pasteurized
Affinage: 5 months
Notes:
Made, as the story goes, when a lightening storm hit the dairy and the recipe for a different cheese was mistakenly altered, resulting in this very buttery ‘mistake’.
Thoughts:
Smells sweet like caramel or buttered toast. There is an earthy wildness to it, with notes of garlic and a texture that melts in your mouth. The more you eat the stronger there develops a theme of green onions, all carried along on a wave of heavy cream. The aftertaste has the raw milk tang we all know and love. It tastes fresh and vibrant, something you want to eat with a hearty beer. A slight peppery bite now and then due to the raw milk.
You know what they say: 'Washed rind best rind'.
They're always saying that.
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