Cheese Database

Appenzeller vs Emmental

Appenzeller

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Semi-hard
Type
Washed rind
Rind
Washed rind
Country
Switzerland

Appenzeller is a firm cow's milk cheese from Switzerland, in the family of Alpine wheels with small eyes. Makers wash the rind with a herbal brine while the cheese cures, and that wash gives a strong smell and a spicy edge. The paste is smooth, pale yellow, and dotted with a few small holes. A younger wheel tastes milder and nuttier, and a longer-aged wheel turns sharper and more robust. It is a cooking cheese and a board cheese, not a fresh slicing cheese.

Emmental, field guide plate
Emmental, photographed

Emmental

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Hard
Type
Pressed
Rind
Natural rind
Country
Switzerland
Place
Emmental
Status
AOP

Emmental is the Swiss cow's-milk cheese with large holes, from the Emmental valley in the canton of Bern. The holes are eyes, made by gas during aging. The Swiss cheese is protected.