{"id":28794,"date":"2016-11-10T18:52:39","date_gmt":"2016-11-10T23:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=28794"},"modified":"2016-11-11T12:56:17","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T17:56:17","slug":"adopt-an-alp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/adopt-an-alp\/","title":{"rendered":"Save Transhumance, Save Traditional Swiss Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cheese has been produced in the Swiss Alps for thousands of years. Beyond well-known Gruy\u00e8re d’Alpage AOP, there\u2019s hobelk\u00e4se<\/i>, a rock-solid, aromatic wheel that\u2019s served shaved into delicate curls. Then there’s raclette<\/a>, which melts perfectly over potatoes and is like no other in its lactic nuttiness. While Alp cheeses<\/a> are diverse, they all embody the unique terroir of high-altitude meadows and are made during the summer months when farmers engage in transhumance.<\/p>\n

Transhumance\u2014the seasonal migration of livestock from low-altitude grazing grounds in the winter to higher altitude pastures in the summer\u2014is a rapidly dwindling practice found in rocky regions throughout the world. In Switzerland, where two-thirds of the land is mountainous, the practice has been de rigueur since the 1300s. Farmers there save precious valley plots for growing crops, sending livestock to graze in the mountains, where the animals move from meadow to meadow during the summer. Some cheesemakers have built conventional creameries right on the mountain, and others craft cheese over wood fires (just as it was done in the 14th century).<\/p>\n

These cheeses have a particular level of historical authenticity to them; some cheesemaking families have traveled up an Alp each summer for eight generations. But life there can be challenging: Many farmers don’t have plumbing. Others have installed windmills to power fridges but travel down to the valley once a week to do laundry. Some cheeses are hand-stirred and made in the same room where families live and eat. There\u2019s a strong pull to adopt a more modern lifestyle, to live in the valley year-round and sell milk to a company that would provide a set salary. As a result, there are fewer Alp cheesemakers each year.<\/p>\n

\"J\u00e4ntzimatt<\/a>

The J\u00e4ntzimatt creamery in the Swiss Alps. Photo: Caroline Hostettler<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Digging Into the Terroir<\/strong><\/p>\n

What makes Alp cheese so unique and worth the commitment to traditional transhumance? Beyond taste, it\u2019s the health benefits derived from raw milk and the high-altitude meadows. \u201cAn Alp pasture counts between 110 and 120 different grasses, flowers, and herbs, [and] a perfect ratio of omega 3 and omega 6,\u201d says Swiss cheese importer Caroline Hostettler, who runs Quality Cheese<\/a> with her husband, Daniel. In Europe, they call it the “Alpine paradox”: People living at higher elevations\u2014even those who do not have access to fresh vegetables, fruit, or grains\u2014tend to have stronger bones, live longer, and have better teeth. \u201c[Scientists] found that it\u2019s because an important part of their diet is [Alp] milk, dairy products, and cheese,\u201d Hostettler says, continuing that the curds are now considered a functional food in Europe, similar to the way that olive oil is coveted for its health benefits.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, results of a study<\/a> that compared traditional Alp cheese with other cheeses, including commercial cheddar, had startling results. Researchers from the Canton Hospital in Baden, Switzerland, found that the cheddar contained only 22 percent of the omega-3 found in traditional Alp cheese (omega-3 is known to fend off fatal heart attacks). Intrigued? Quality Cheese\u2019s website<\/a> provides a rabbit hole of health information about raw-milk cheeses and Alp cheese, specifically.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Adrian Riebli makes cheese at his J\u00e4ntzimatt creamery. Photo: Caroline Hostettler<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

To Serve and Protect<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once they leave the profession, it\u2019s rare for cheesemakers to return to the more demanding and complicated work in the mountains\u2014”the tradition will be lost,” warns Hostettler. That\u2019s why she founded the organization Adopt-an-Alp<\/a> three years ago with a dual mission: to bring Alp cheese to the US and to educate cheese lovers about transhumance<\/a> and its integral role in creating powerful cheeses.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how it works: A shop \u201cadopts\u201d a creamery by purchasing at least 10 of their wheels. Participating shops then vie for a trip to Switzerland to meet cheesemakers by coming up with creative ways to promote their Alp cheeses.<\/p>\n

Evan Talen, a manager and monger at Apertivo<\/a> in Grand Rapids, Mich., joined the program last summer and is eagerly awaiting his first shipment of Alp cheese. The store adopted the J\u00e4ntzimatt<\/a> creamery, which produces the particularly rare and aptly named cheese Full Moon, made only under the natural light of the full moon. Talen describes how the competition is \u201cbased around who most creatively communicates and promotes their Alp, their farm . . . the importance of the idea of transhumance, and . . . the traditions behind what [farmers] are doing.\u201d Armed with Full Moon, the Apertivo team plans to pair the cheese with a beer that is also only made during the full moon as well as with other moon-related treats at an upcoming party.<\/p>\n

The shops are also tasked with teaching consumers about authentic Alp cheese. Alp cheese is defined and certified by the Swiss government, Hostettler explains\u2014only products made in the highlands during transhumance can bear the official Alpk\u00e4se logo<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

A cow in an Alpine pasture. Photo: Caroline Hostettler<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

And Adopt-an-Alp\u2019s work doesn\u2019t end with promotion and protection of Alp cheese in the US market. Last winter, the Swiss government put out guidelines<\/a> for what a cheesemaker can and can\u2019t do on an Alp\u2014and with government guidelines comes government paperwork. \u201cThese people who go on an Alp and make cheese there, they are farmers, no more and no less, and they usually \u2026 couldn\u2019t care less about paperwork,\u201d Hostettler says, with a bit of exasperation. Working against the draw of the 21st-century 9-to-5, Hostettler hopes to inspire farmers to continue their family traditions despite the new regulations. Many wonder why they need to fill out forms when their ancestors have been making cheese the same way for hundreds of years, she says. Part of her job is alerting the program\u2019s cheesemakers to resources\u2014such as full-time consultants offered by the Swiss government\u2014to help them adhere to the new regulations. With a more optimistic opinion of the directives than her farming compatriots, Hostettler believes that they will only improve the quality of the cheese.<\/p>\n

So far, reception for the Adopt-an-Alp program among participating cheesemakers has been enthusiastic. On a recent trip to Switzerland, Hostettler showed a cheesemaker a photo of the NoMad Hotel<\/a>\u2019s cheese plate featuring the creamery\u2019s hobelk\u00e4se. \u201cShe was mesmerized. She was speechless. She had tears in her eyes,\u201d Hostettler remembers.<\/p>\n

After discussing Alp cheese and the Adopt-an-Alp push for some time, I asked Hostettler where her passion to help expand the reach and maintain the tradition of Alp cheese comes from. \u201cI am a purist and I just admire these people who give their all and everything,” she says. “They don\u2019t make compromises . . . Basically, [transhumance] is like cheese itself. It seems very simple, it doesn\u2019t consist of a hundred ingredients, but at the same time it\u2019s very complex.\u201d Indeed, turophiles owe a bit of their cheese plate diversity\u2014and maybe even heart health\u2014to the rugged work of the Swiss Alp farmers and their champion, Caroline Hostettler.<\/p>\n

Feature Photo Credit: Caroline Hostettler<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caroline Hostettler of Adopt-an-Alp strives to revitalize Swiss transhumance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":28825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[929,928,927],"coauthors":[906],"class_list":["post-28794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-alpine-cheese","tag-swtizerland","tag-transhumance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSave Transhumance, Save Traditional Swiss Cheese - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/adopt-an-alp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Save Transhumance, Save Traditional Swiss Cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Caroline Hostettler of Adopt-an-Alp strives to revitalize Swiss transhumance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/adopt-an-alp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"culture: the word on cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-10T23:52:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-11T17:56:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Transhumance_Jaenzemattt_credit-to_Caroline_Hostettler_FEATURE.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"368\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kara Kaminski-Killiany\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kara Kaminski-Killiany\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/adopt-an-alp\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/adopt-an-alp\/\",\"name\":\"Save Transhumance, Save Traditional Swiss Cheese - 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