This Swiss village, home to the cheese of the same name, is nestled in and near Moulson Mountain in the French-speaking area of Switzerland.
The quaint village offers visitors the opportunity to watch cheesemaking done the old-fashioned way as well as the modern high-tech method demonstrated at La Maison Du Gruyere, a cheese dairy.
Visitors also can hike the mountain alongside Gruyere’s cows, wander through the castle of the cheese barons and dine at a quaint restaurant, Le Chalet De Gruyere, on the specialty of the house: cheese fondue.
Gruyere (pronounced gree-yair or gru-yair) cheese has a distinctive flavor that is widely appreciated and called for in classic French cookery.
What gives this cheese its flavor? The diet of the cows includes wild thyme and purple and white clover, all eaten on the hillsides of the surrounding mountains. Experts say that 75 scents have been identified in Gruyere cheese.
The cows turn the grasses and plants into milk twice a day. The milk’s special taste is preserved through careful extraction, temperature control and constant testing before the cheesemaking begins. The only things added to the milk are salt and rennet, a natural chemical that causes curdling. Each wheel ripens from 5 to 12 months.
The mature product is a creamy, unpasteurized, semi-soft cheese with a rusty brown rind that is dry and pitted with tiny holes; its wonderfully complex flavor is at first fruity and then earthy and nutty.
“Gruyere’s flavor becomes fuller and sharper as it matures,” said Susan Taitel, the specialty cheese buyer at Whole Foods Market in Evanston, which stocks the 2-year-old Gruyere reserve for $10 a pound. Gruyere can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks. Taitel suggests a plastic food bag with the air removed as the best storage method.
Gruyere makes a great table cheese but it is also good for baking. Further, it retains a smooth texture when melted and is the preferred choice in the preparation of quiche and fondue.
Fondue is the Swiss national dish, created centuries ago using readily available ingredients. When winter food supplies were limited in the snowbound mountain villages, the Swiss needed a dish that would be filling and, of course, tasty, according to tour information at La Maison Du Gruyere.
Fondue was born, it is said, as a truce between the Catholics (who supplied the cheese) and the Protestants (who brought the bread and wine).
The word fondue comes from the French word fondre meaning to melt or to blend, according to Syvia Lovgren in “Fashionable Food.”
The original Swiss fondue came from the region of Neuchatel and was a combination of Gruyere and Emmentaler cheese.
Fondue has recently shown signs of rebirth and, as such, many kitchenware and department stores are selling fondue pots–just in case that one you bought in the 1960s is no longer around.
Spinach and shrimp quiche
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
2 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 pound rock or other shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 cup grated each: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gruyere cheese
2 bags (10 ounces each) fresh spinach, cooked, squeezed dry, chopped
1 small onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 9-inch prepared pie shell
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together eggs, cream, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl. Stir in shrimp, cheeses, spinach, onion, garlic and shallots; season with salt and pepper.
2. Pour mixture into the pie shell; bake until set, 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition information per serving:
390 calories, 60% of calories from fat, 26 g fat, 13 g saturated fat, 201 mg cholesterol, 16 g carbohydrates, 23 g protein, 732 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
Pizza-style Swiss fried potatoes
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings
This is a spin on a wonderful dish served at Bahnhof, a restaurant in Kleine Scheidegg in the Alps. The restaurant menu calls it rostizza: “A unique culinary attraction that combines the best of two traditional Swiss and Italian specialties, the renowned rosti and the popular pizza.” It works as a meal or a side dish with eggs.
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 each: green and red bell pepper
4 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bag (20 ounces) refrigerated, cooked shredded potatoes
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
7 ounces grilled sausage, sliced or chopped, optional
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded each: Emmental cheese, Gruyere cheese
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; cook, stirring often, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Move onions to outside edge of the pan, add peppers. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes; move to edge of pan. Add mushrooms, garlic and rosemary; cook 5 minutes. Remove vegetables from skillet; set aside.
2. Melt remaining oil and butter in same skillet; add potatoes. Press down to form an even layer. Season with salt and pepper; cover. Cook until edges brown, about 6 minutes. (It is best not to stir contents of the pan before turning.) Turn potatoes with a spatula; top with reserved vegetables, optional sausage, cheese and red pepper flakes. Transfer skillet to the oven; cook until hot and cheese is melted, 15 minutes. Serve hot.
Nutrition information per serving:
350 calories, 65% of calories from fat, 29 g fat, 12 g saturated fat, 46 mg cholesterol, 22 g carbohydrates, 13 g protein, 554 mg sodium, 2 g fiber
Traditional Swiss fondue
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10-12 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
This fondue requires genuine Swiss Gruyere and Emmental cheese to produce the necessary creamy texture. Make it with a California chardonnay or Alsatian riesling, either of which can be served with the finished dish. Gently heat the cheese to just a bubble; never let it boil. Serve the fondue with dippers such as French bread cubes, cooked potato cubes, gherkins, cocktail onions, shrimp, blanched asparagus or other vegetables.
1 clove garlic, halved
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons cherry brandy, such as Kirsch
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
12 ounces each, grated: Gruyere cheese, Emmentaler cheese
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon each: sweet paprika, nutmeg, freshly ground pepper
1. Rub the inside of a fondue pot with garlic. Heat wine, brandy and lemon juice to simmer in medium-large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Meanwhile, add cornstarch to grated cheese in a medium bowl; toss to coat. Add cheese to the liquid by handfuls, stirring constantly in a figure-eight pattern until it begins to bubble and cheeses are completely melted. Add the salt, paprika, nutmeg and pepper; stir to combine. Cook until thickened and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Pour into the fondue pot.
Nutrition information per serving:
681 calories, 68% of calories from fat, 51 g fat, 31 g saturated fat, 171 mg cholesterol, 5 g carbos, 50 g protein, 580 mg sodium, 0.1 g fiber
