Loading... Please wait...- Telephone: 609 924 2210
- Home
- My Account
- View Cart
Blog
The witches are flying in from Switzerland
Posted by The Cheese Man on 2nd Mar 2023
As all of you know, we are big fans of Alpine-style cheeses. And although Olsson’s have carried cheeses like Gruyere and Comte almost from day one, some 35 years ago now, our love for the cheeses from the Alps started really with one cheese: Red Witch. When Olsson’s was still in the Trenton Farmers Market Rudie saw a picture of the cheese in one of the flyers sent out by cheese distributor Cheeseworks (who were taken over years ago by Cheesewarehouse, who in turn were renamed to World’s Best Cheeses).
|
The picture was of a red witch on a broomstick, around which appeared “Red Witch” in the 3 principal languages in Switzerland (Die Rote Hekse -German, La Strega Rossa -Italian, La Sorciere Rouge -French) and English. He thought it would be a gimmicky thing to have this cheese in the store for Halloween that year, irrespective of whether it was any good. When the cheese arrived in the store the whole team tasted it and unanimously decided that it was a great cheese. The cheese has been one of our standards ever since.
The Red Witch is made by Kaeserei Oberli in the little hamlet of Rislen at over 2000 feet elevation near Rossrueti in the canton of St Gallen. The team is led by Christian Oberli who is the third generation Oberli to run the dairy. His grandfather set up the dairy in 1926 and produced Emmentaler primarily for the export market. When Christan’s father took over the dairy, market requirements had changed and the dairy switched to making Tilsiter almost exclusively. When, under pressure from the WTO, government-sponsored regulation on cheese in Switzerland loosened in 1999, Christian was given the opportunity to start making his own range of cheeses. His main style of cheese is now Raclette in a square form in all kinds of flavors.
Christian Oberli (photo courtesy foodaktuel) Kaeserei Oberli (photo courtesy Sonja Hofman Raclette Corner)
According to Caroline Holstettler, the importer of this cheese in the US, Red Witch was conceived in a conversation over a meal at the Bern main railway station between a cheese fan, Mrs. Zuehlke, and Christian. She thought that there was a gap in the Swiss cheese market for a party cheese that would go well with beer and wine at the time of Fasnacht (Carnevale), a three-day festival during lent. They hashed out what the characteristics of such a cheese should be and Christian went off to develop the recipe for the cheese. To link the Halloween-for-adults-type festival to the cheese, the red witch on the broomstick became part of the label and the cheese production included a paprika brine-wash which turns the rind red. The first Red Witches flew out from Kaeserie Oberli in 2008.
The cheese is alpine in character, which means it is made of raw milk collected within a 7-mile radius of the dairy. The farms supplying the milk are run on a grass-feed-only basis. The cheese culture used in the production of the cheese comprises amongst others Lactobacillus Helveticus and produces a nutty, complex but mild flavor profile and a characteristically supple paste. The culture used tends to produce some CO2 which creates holes (eyes in cheese jargon) that tend to remain small because the cheese is aged under cold conditions (unlike Emmental where the warm aging has the same culture produce large holes). The Holstettlers asked Christian to lengthen the aging time from 5 to 7 to 8 months to produce a more intense flavor for the US market. And, before you ask, …. the Red Witch has an older sister which saw its debut in 2017.
Cheeseboards for Dinner
If you have been on social media in the past two years or been to any event you may have noticed the trend to have fancy cheese and charcuterie boards. At the beginning of the pandemic when people were staying home and the trend to eat at home was growing in popularity, cheeseboards, raclette and fondue [...]
New Jersey , The Garden state of Local cheeses
If I ask most people what New Jersey is famous for, most people will mention the beaches, the Sopranos, Jersey shore , tomatoes, pork roll and occasionally someone will say the smell that is Elizabeth. No one ever thinks of why New Jersey is called the garden state. New Jersey has many farms and we are [...]
Bitto DOP Cheese from the Alps of Italy
When most people think of cheese from "the Alps" Italy often does not come to mind as we frequently hear about cheeses from Switzerland. Bitto is very special, it is produced in the Valtellina valley in the Lombardy. It is named after the river Bitto, which runs into the river Adda and in turn in Lake Como. The [...]
The Charcuterie board evolution from 2000 to now
A few years ago someone asked me to jump from cheese world into world of fresh meat. At the time it seemed that they would be world's apart. Little did I know just how intertwined they would end up being for my life and industry.As a butcher I was often tasked with cutting some pretty [...]
Harbison and the Jasper Hill story
In 1998 brothers Andy and Matheo Kehler along with their respective wives bucked a growing trend in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont by restarting an old dairy farm locally known as the “Jasper Hill”. From the beginning they realized that they needed to keep as much value as possible on the farm rather than sending it out of state in [...]
Melkbus 149 - Raw milk Gouda from a single farm with Black Truffle
Milk: Cow, Raw MilkCountry: Netherlands, HollandAccompaniment: Dry whites, fruity redsCheeses with the Melkbus name are made on single family farms and distinguished by the addition of a number exclusively used by that farm. Recipes and methods used, adhere closely to the traditions of Dutch farmhouse cheese production with the exception that shavings of Italian black truffles are added to the curds prior [...]
Novell by Montbru - a Catalan thing of beauty
Milk: Goat, pasteurizedRennet: AnimalCountry: Spain, CatalunaTexture: Semi-firmAccompaniment: Medium-bodied reds, fruity whitesThe roots of the Montbru cheese company go back to 1450 for the site of their farm. There is evidence to suggest that the first cheeses were made there for the local market around 1890 (probably a typical Catalan cheese from that time called mato). The present owners of the [...]
Petit Basque - A Basque Gem
Milk: Sheep. PasteurizedCountry: France, PyreneesAccompaniment: Medium bodied reds, fruity whitesFrom the lush mountains of the Basque region in France, Les Pays Basques, hails this wonderful little cheese. Buffered by the sea breezes coming in from the Atlantic while at the same time receiving the rain that falls down in the first elevated land mass the clouds meet, the landscape is ideal for [...]
Blue Cheese - History and production
The discovery and production of Blue Cheese.As I told some of you who came into the store in the last week or so, I was struggling to determine what I was going to send you this week around the theme of Blue Cheese. Something about how it was discovered all those years ago? Or maybe something more technical around [...]