"Hole" cheese (Emmental)

Member Name: Jpdm

Product:	Emmental
Date:	20/03/01 (115 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: "healthy", accessible, good value

Disadvantages: none(!)... that I am aware of!

I have to say that I didn't give much notice to this cheese, because of the fact that in the back of mind I had an idea that it was only for diets, healthy eating etc.

However, since I tasted it and I started buying it in a regular basis, I have to say that it seems much more enjoyable to me in contrast to what may seem to people at first glance...

It is a yellow cheese produced in the central cantons of Switzerland. It is a traditional, unpasteurised, hard cheese made from cow's milk. Its hard thin rind is covered by paper with the name of the producer on it.

Allegedly, it is considered by a lot of people as an non-interesting cheese as far as both the flavour and look are concerned. In fact if mild cheddar is to your liking, then you wouldn't find a lot of differences at emmental. The aroma is sweet with tones of fresh-cut hay. The flavour is very fruity, not without a tone of acidity. Emmental has walnut-sized holes. It is considered to be one of the most difficult cheeses to be produced because of it's complicated hole-forming fermentation process.

On top of everything mentioned above, it can also be said that it is quite suitable for people on a diet. Obviously, as a yellow cheese, it has less fat than white cheeses. Except from that, it has a low content of salt that helps cheese lovers that do worry about their kidneys.

It must be said that it is one of the very few cheeses that I have ever tried in my life, which is best eaten raw.

With my compliments to whoever will give it a try, I would suggest having emmental with a glass of wine, for example Jura Blanc or Vin de Savoie Givry rully Mercurey.

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