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Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

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Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#211

Post by robocat »

rootusrootus wrote: post #31
chris_va wrote: post #24

> Properly formed eyes are a mark of quality. Except when I asked someone who makes cheese in Switzerland, they told me almost the opposite (and mostly that they export the junk cheese to the US and keep the good stuff). As an aside, what are the odds this article was written by AI? It has that feel (minus random bolding and bullet points).

Why on Earth would they intentionally export only their garbage cheese? Then the world will only know them for that. The holes in modern Emmental cheese are created intentionally. In Switzerland the additive used to create them is forbidden. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmental_cheese#Natural_holes_...

Modern America doesn't seem to have much of a culture of cheese.

I've just visited New Orleans, and the selection of cheese available in supermarkets was extremely limited. I recall the same issue from past visits elsewhere in the US. The fist time I visited I was horrified to see fake Bega cheese.

For more choice in New Orleans I would have needed to go to a cheese shop/restaurant chain called the St James Cheese Company (I didn't visit it).

I watched someone cooking a hamburger grab a slice of processed cheese (looked like a standard individual plastic packaged slice to me) and place it on top of the burger to melt (admittedly it turned out fine).

Oh, and all the milk I found in New Orleans was ultra-pasteurised (abominable taste) - I didn't see any standard/HTST pasteurized milk. Apparently shelflife is more important than taste. For comparison, Supermarket milk is pasteurized here in NZ (not ultra except for longlife tetrapack) and unpasteurized milk is available in Christchurch (not at supermarket, I think in a shop in St Martins or from dairy 30km out of Christchurch).

I admit that here in Christchurch for better imported cheeses I need to go to a cheesemonger. At my local supermarket today I didn't buy a yummy local aged gouda (Meyer) because it was USD40/kg : instead I bought 1 double-cream Brie (Mainland), 1 goatsmilk feta (Foodsnob - Bulgarian - cheap on special), and some "smoked flavour" processed cheese slices (Chesdale - plastic but I like it!).

For Emmentaler, the supermarket has "Swiss cheese" which isn't great. They have an imported brand from Germany Emborg Emmentaler Swiss Cheese block 200g NZD9.69 (USD12.7/lb) which you wouldn't buy for its flavour.

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#212

Post by MiddleEndian »

marklubi wrote: post #182
PetitPrince wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Different countries have different tastes (Coca Cola has a different syrup mixture for each countries for instance). There's a YouTube video from a franco-japanese guy who interview a Japanese cheese maker. He was trained by a Swiss person (but in the US, of all places) and softly complained that Japanese palate favored more bland cheese compared to what he experienced. So it makes sense for a Swiss cheese maker to e…

Similar thing with orange juice. The producers add 'flavor packs' to adjust the taste for different regions of the US. My son and I travel all over the US for various competitions, and there are certain regions where he refuses to get OJ because of the flavor differences.

I never looked into why, but when I moved from Boston to Seattle, I noticed dairy products (milk, cottage cheese) tasted different in Seattle. Confirmed it again when I moved back to Boston.

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#213

Post by PopAlongKid »

bobthepanda wrote: post #158
pests wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you are buying the absolute cheapest package of cheese slices it will still be real cheese. I'm not even sure if I've ever even seen a Kraft or Valveeta sliced cheese product, only lesser no-name brands. I've been am American all my life and do not buy process cheese product as it does take like plastic, but actual American cheese is delicious on burgers and grilled cheeses and a few other select meals. What's…

The hero image for Kraft Singles on Wikipedia clearly states “Pasteurized prepared cheese product” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kraft_Singles.jpg It is a sleight of hand that it says American, but it specifically does not say American cheese as a single phrase.

You are looking at the wrong product. This one[0] does say "American cheese" as a single phrase. And the slices are not individually wrapped, as they don't need to be.

[0]https://www.kraftheinz.com/kraft-deli-deluxe/products/000210...

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#214

Post by PopAlongKid »

robocat wrote: post #211
rootusrootus wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why on Earth would they intentionally export only their garbage cheese? Then the world will only know them for that. The holes in modern Emmental cheese are created intentionally. In Switzerland the additive used to create them is forbidden. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmental_cheese#Natural_holes_...

Modern America doesn't seem to have much of a culture of cheese. I've just visited New Orleans, and the selection of cheese available in supermarkets was extremely limited. I recall the same issue from past visits elsewhere in the US. The fist time I visited I was horrified to see fake Bega cheese. For more choice in New Orleans I would have needed to go to a cheese shop/restaurant chain called the St James Cheese Co…

>grab a slice of processed cheese (looked like a standard individual plastic packaged slice to me)

Kraft makes a plastic wrapped slice that is "cheese food", however they also make an American cheese slice that is actual cheese. I suspect you saw the latter.

https://www.kraftheinz.com/kraft-deli-deluxe/products/000210...

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#215

Post by dietr1ch »

elzbardico wrote: post #115
pazimzadeh wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most Americans aren’t exposed to enough quality foods of certain types at a young age to develop the taste for them. For example, most Americans think Hershey’s is what chocolate is supposed to taste like, because they grew up with it. Same with the mushy Chorleywood processed bread and most American “cheese”

I hate Hershey’s with passion.

I, too hate vomit

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#216

Post by kgwgk »

HelloNurse wrote: post #208
kgwgk wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also have their own “Gruyère” - different from the Swiss one and with holes - in France: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruy%C3%A8re_fran%C3%A7ais They also have a cheese similar to the Gruyère from Switzerland, but with a different name (the Gruyère part dropped from the name over time): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comt%C3%A9_(fromage)

There's also a tight branding and trademark component. I remember a major ad campaign when proper imported "Emmental" was rebranded as "Emmentaler" because the former name was becoming generic, and a related ad campaign about positioning and promoting Emmentaler as one of several kinds of "Swiss Cheese" along with Gruyere, Sbrinz and maybe a fourth one I don't recollect.

> proper imported "Emmental" was rebranded as "Emmentaler"

It’s also called Emmentaler (from Emmental) in Switzerland.

https://www.emmentaler.ch/en/our-history

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#217

Post by robocat »

panick21 wrote: post #183
rootusrootus wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what to make of that statement. It is arrogant, at least. Are you trashing just the 340 million people in the US with this comment, or everybody not-Swiss?

Good cheese is hard to like, and even here we are judgmental. People who buy the cheap Emmentaler from the supermarket vs the more fancy one from the cheese shop. Most American 'swiss cheese is garbage' sorry. Then the 'Mild' here isn't that good. I would watcher most American literally have never in their live ever seen how 'rezent' Emmentaler is supposed to look. Honestly its hard to get even in Switzerland. A prop…

> literally has a thick salt crust inside of the holes.

It is hard to take you seriously when you spread misinformation.

  The Calcium lactate crystals are technically a salt, but not what we would commonly refer to as salt (sodium chloride).
Yes, your language might transliterate to salt or salt crystals in English but it is misleading to call them salt in English.

To me this is very obvious when you eat the crystals (they don't taste salty, and they have only a very soft crunch).

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#218

Post by cess11 »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #40
chris_va wrote: post #24

> Properly formed eyes are a mark of quality. Except when I asked someone who makes cheese in Switzerland, they told me almost the opposite (and mostly that they export the junk cheese to the US and keep the good stuff). As an aside, what are the odds this article was written by AI? It has that feel (minus random bolding and bullet points).

I have heard that Denmark exports their best pigs and leaves the second best for home. Not sure why that should be any truer than what you heard regarding Switzerland and their strategy, but they seem to represent two differing strategies about how to best profit from strong points, it would be nice to figure if either is the dominant one. Perhaps we can ask Italy what they do with tomatoes and parmigiano.

Most pork they export to Sweden for sale in supermarkets is awful and sold as the cheapest, worst alternative.

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#219

Post by HelloNurse »

kgwgk wrote: post #216
HelloNurse wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a tight branding and trademark component. I remember a major ad campaign when proper imported "Emmental" was rebranded as "Emmentaler" because the former name was becoming generic, and a related ad campaign about positioning and promoting Emmentaler as one of several kinds of "Swiss Cheese" along with Gruyere, Sbrinz and maybe a fourth one I don't recollect.

> proper imported "Emmental" was rebranded as "Emmentaler" It’s also called Emmentaler (from Emmental) in Switzerland. https://www.emmentaler.ch/en/our-history

"Emmental", also misspelled "Emmenthal", remains the common name in Italy, non to mention the name of various imitations.

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#220

Post by carlosjobim »

cjs_ac wrote: post #194
carlosjobim wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Averages and means are of no significance in this equation. What matters is which market has the most customers who can afford your product. Luxury goods are sold worldwide even to hell hole countries, because there's people there who can afford them.

We're talking about cheese. To American consumers, this is luxury, imported cheese, only available from specialist retailers. To Swiss consumers, it's everyday cheese sold in ordinary supermarkets.

You missed my first sentence. If there are 9 million Swiss consumers who are potential customers and 40 million Americans who are, then it doesn't matter if the average Swiss is richer than the average American.

Average and means have no significance in this matter. There are more Americans who can afford cheese from Switzerland than there are Swiss people.

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