Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

usdairy.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 264 posts

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#91

Post by ckdot »

criemen wrote: post #18
kleiba wrote: post #2

The term "Swiss cheese" is a constant source of amusement for people from Europe... you know, like, there is only one type of cheese made in Switzerland...

In German, "Swiss cheese" is a term that's well known, and doesn't count that kind of amusement. For example, you could say that something "looks like swiss cheese" when it has a lot of holes in it, like very old clothing. It's often used slightly ironic, but that's not due to what you state.

In German „Swiss cheese“ simply means „Schweizer Käse“ or „Käse aus der Schweiz“ - but you’ll usually still find the exact type like Emmentaler on the label and packaging. So, as a German, it’s a bit amusing indeed.

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#92

Post by slibhb »

Insanity wrote: post #89
cm2012 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American suburbs tend to have excellent bread in middle class neighborhoods or higher. This isn't the 90s.

Honest question.. where? Most bread seems to be high in additives and promoted as a “healthy food”, like additional vitamines etc. And even when buying natural bread without these added “benefits”, it often has high levels of sodium (up to like 200mg per slice). Bread is one of the easiest, most plain things to make, yet finding high quality bread isn’t straightforward in the States. But I do really want to know whic…

Search Google maps for "bakery" and sort by rating.

It's not hard to find a good bakery in any dense area in the US. I have to imagine people claiming otherwise are indulging in Yankee-bashing, a favorite European pastime.

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#93

Post by trenchpilgrim »

Insanity wrote: post #89
cm2012 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American suburbs tend to have excellent bread in middle class neighborhoods or higher. This isn't the 90s.

Honest question.. where? Most bread seems to be high in additives and promoted as a “healthy food”, like additional vitamines etc. And even when buying natural bread without these added “benefits”, it often has high levels of sodium (up to like 200mg per slice). Bread is one of the easiest, most plain things to make, yet finding high quality bread isn’t straightforward in the States. But I do really want to know whic…

I can walk five minutes to a local grocery store and get fresh bread from their bakery. Immigrant bakeries are also great, I had some buns from a chinese bakery last weekend that were a "if this is what food is supposed to taste like, what have I been eating until now???" moment

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#94

Post by sowbug »

_2d30 wrote: post #53
dylan604 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather be known for Swiss cheese than American cheese. At least Swiss is actually cheese and not a cheese product. American cheese is nasty. It baffles me people not only eat it, but also like it

American cheese is just cheese with an emulsifier, sodium citrate, added that makes it so that it doesn’t break when melted. At most it adds a slight amount of acidity and makes for a very attractive melting property. There’s not really anything disgusting about it for most people because most people find its melting properties to be a positive. Hating American cheese is an affect people adopt for the same reason peo…

It's very easy to make American cheese at home, and it happens to make the very best macaroni and cheese. As you say, mix some other cheese with sodium citrate dissolved in water. Cheddar works great. You'll get a nacho-sauce-like goop that you can pour onto your pasta (cavatappi or fusilli are best). Add in a caramelized onion and you'll never want to eat boxed mac & cheese again.

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#95

Post by JumpCrisscross »

rootusrootus wrote: post #32
shevy-java wrote: post #20

Because the damn swiss folks really want to sell more cheese, without actually producing more cheese! So the proper way is to cut half the cheese out, say that holes are NECESSARY and IMPORTANT - and then sell twice as much as before. They are a genius people.

Fun fact - in Switzerland the holes are not permitted. Bonus fact - Switzerland imports more cheese than it exports.

> in Switzerland the holes are not permitted

For Emmentaler?

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#96

Post by pclmulqdq »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #87
pclmulqdq wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost every city has several bakeries that make lye-boiled bagels and plenty of other things that are baked and stocked daily. Most bakers I know will donate their stock of all breads to a homeless shelter at the end of the day and start fresh on new bread in the morning. You don't need extremely high volume for that.

> that are baked and stocked daily But not multiple times a day. A New York bagel noticeably stales after a couple hours. Baguettes are the same, by the way. The little handies? If made plainly, correvtly, they change immeasurably once they cool. When perishability is measured in tens of minutes’ intervals, your economics require a large city of aficionados. (Not applicable to cheese, obviously.)

Most good bakeries everywhere stock multiple times a day as stock gets low. Even the ones selling American baked goods and things like cupcakes because all of these things have shelf lives of hours. Do you believe that New York is the only place in the US where you can get a baguette or a loaf of French bread? Do you think it's the only place you can get a cake?

Having high foot traffic and understanding supply and demand are not unique to New York. The specific type of bagel is, though, because it's a preference rather than a sign of quality. You have fewer bakeries per square mile outside New York, but you have fewer of everything per square mile outside New York. Many cities around the US are plenty dense to support people who make high-quality baked goods.

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#97

Post by murukesh_s »

Insanity wrote: post #89
cm2012 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American suburbs tend to have excellent bread in middle class neighborhoods or higher. This isn't the 90s.

Honest question.. where? Most bread seems to be high in additives and promoted as a “healthy food”, like additional vitamines etc. And even when buying natural bread without these added “benefits”, it often has high levels of sodium (up to like 200mg per slice). Bread is one of the easiest, most plain things to make, yet finding high quality bread isn’t straightforward in the States. But I do really want to know whic…

Wondering why someone did not solve the problem already? Of all the countries in the world US is brimming with entrepreneurs who want to "solve" a consumer problem, and with modern population I assume there is enough demand on fresh/healthier products - why on earth someone wouldn't try to fix it there?

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#98

Post by cm2012 »

Insanity wrote: post #89
cm2012 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American suburbs tend to have excellent bread in middle class neighborhoods or higher. This isn't the 90s.

Honest question.. where? Most bread seems to be high in additives and promoted as a “healthy food”, like additional vitamines etc. And even when buying natural bread without these added “benefits”, it often has high levels of sodium (up to like 200mg per slice). Bread is one of the easiest, most plain things to make, yet finding high quality bread isn’t straightforward in the States. But I do really want to know whic…

https://www.ibfoods.com/locations/

Long island new york, here is a a store chain with out of this world bread.

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#99

Post by chamomeal »

rootusrootus wrote: post #70
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why on Earth would they intentionally export only their garbage cheese? This usually happens when one population is discerning and the other is not.

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?

The American population as a whole is definitely less discerning when it comes to Swiss cheese than the Swiss

Re: Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

#100

Post by kstenerud »

Insanity wrote: post #89
cm2012 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American suburbs tend to have excellent bread in middle class neighborhoods or higher. This isn't the 90s.

Honest question.. where? Most bread seems to be high in additives and promoted as a “healthy food”, like additional vitamines etc. And even when buying natural bread without these added “benefits”, it often has high levels of sodium (up to like 200mg per slice). Bread is one of the easiest, most plain things to make, yet finding high quality bread isn’t straightforward in the States. But I do really want to know whic…

Yup, agreed. The first thing my gf complained about when coming to North America for 6 months was the food. And she never stopped complaining.

Then we went to Germany and I finally understood.

Not only can I pop in to the local bakery on the corner (or the next corner, or the next) for the most amazing breads ever, but I could also go to a Rewe or Edeka and get quite good bread that's still head-and-shoulders above anything in America.

My fav right now is a walnut spelt bread roll that I get for 90 cents apiece at Edeka. A bit pricey but it's worth it. Put on some President butter [1] and some cheeses and it's divine!

[1] https://www.president.de/produkte/butter/meersalzbutter-250-...

Post reply on HN