Hello, friends! The holiday season is in full swing in my household and at the cheese shop where I run social media, so I am in a cheery mood. Today, I made a little cheese plate featuring all Austrian cheeses, and wanted to share them with you!
With a large part of the country in the Alps, Austria offers the perfect environment to raise cows and make cheeses, specifically mountain/Alpine style cheeses. These cheeses are made from summer milk, and historically offered people a way to store milk through the colder seasons. They’ll often have a nutty, umami flavor profile, straw or sunny yellow color, and sometimes a funky odor, especially if they are washed during the affinage, or ageing.
Moosbacher
Cow, pasteurized, microbial rennet
This cheese is a great example of traditional methods combined in innovative ways. Cheesemakers at Schärdinger wanted to combine the sweetness of large-eyed cheeses like Emmenthal with some b. linen culture tang, and the result is this big eyed, washed rind beauty. Its semi-soft texture is tender and comforting. It smells a little funky, thanks to those b. linen cultures, and has an elastic paste and softer, slightly tacky rind. In the same vein as my beloved Holey Cow cheese by Central Coast Creamery (although more savory), this cheese has a fresh berry, milky, fruity flavor with a little toasted hazelnut finish. As M. Cheesemonger says, “Melt it!” We then melted it over potatoes.
Mountain Herbs Rebel
Cow, pasteurized, traditional rennet
I have never heard of Käse Rebellen, which translates to “cheese rebels,” before, but love their spirit! The founders of what would eventually become Käse Rebellen began their cheese making work in 1860, in response to local “cheese counts” who had a monopoly on local production. These four original founders, or cheese rebels, steadily grew their scope until it took the form we see today, although there are no more cheese counts against whom to rebel. The cows that provide this milk graze on unique grasses and herbs local to the Alps, which leads to high quality and flavor. But all right, how about the cheese itself? There are many variations of the Cheese Rebels’ cheese, ranging from traditional mountain cheeses, to playful ones infused with added flavors. This Mountain Herbs Rebel smells like thyme, dark bread, marjoram, oregano, and more. It has a full, satisfying flavor with nutty, toasty walnut, broth notes. I would serve this at a party, while M. Cheesemonger said he would melt a slab of it on a sandwich any day.
Alp Blossom
Cow, pasteurized, traditional rennet
Alp Blossom is sort of a staple in the case at Cheese Plus, the shop where I run the social media accounts. It’s gorgeous, covered in dried flowers, and tasty. Mea culpa, I didn’t get to photographing the cheese right away, and the flowers faded in the meantime. That said, the scattered rose petals, lavender, marigold, cornflowers, and herbs are normally so vibrant. Made by Senneri Huban, Alp Blossom is inspired by the flowers and flavors of its terroir, the Hay Belt, which spans Eastern Switzerland, Southern Germany, and Western Austria. Smelling it, you will be treated to a cellar funkiness. Tasting it, you will be treated to a bright, creamy start that fades into a deep, umami, brothy finish, all tinged with an herbaceous overtone. The paste melts softly on the tongue. I recommend this cheese to anyone looking for a little twist on the classic Gruyere or Comte, and are down for a little visual kick.
The jam was a special gift offered to me by one of my closest girlfriends and incredible opera singer, a salmonberry jam from Alaska–salmonberry is from the rose family, and I could taste the similarities. The pralines were from Mazet Confiseur in the Loiret department in France.
All in all, it was such a treat to taste these Austrian cheeses! While drawing from the same alpine cheese traditions, each one was uniquely delicious. If you’d like to add some Austrian alpine cheeses to your board or recipes this season, these are a great place to start!
