Cheese Database

Appenzeller vs Vorarlberger Bergkäse

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.

Vorarlberger Bergkäse

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Semi-hard
Type
Pressed
Rind
Natural rind
Country
Austria
Place
Vorarlberg

Vorarlberger Bergkäse is a firm mountain cheese from Vorarlberg in Austria. It is made from raw cow's milk, and the wheels are large, with a natural brown rind. The paste is pale to light yellow, supple when younger, and harder or more crumbly after a long age. A few small eyes are normal. The taste runs from nutty and mild to spicy and herbal, and cooks use it on a board, for melting, and for grating.