These cheeses are your hiking buddies. They pack well, share well, and they rival any deli cheese when it comes to a sandwich. Plus, they know how to party with red wine, dark beer, and wild spirits.
Appenzeller | Ascutney Mountain | Beaufort | Challerhocker | Lavender Mustard | Comté | Emmentaler | Swiss Fondue | Fontina Val d’Aosta | Gruyère | Old Man Highlander | Pleasant Ridge Reserve | Raclette | Reading Raclette | The Incredible Bulk | Rush Creek Reserve | Tarentaise | Tomme Crayeuse | Tomme de Savoie | Vacherin Mont d’Or | Cheese Board: Monastic Traditions | Cheese 101: How to Taste Cheese
SWITZERLAND, RAW COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A whiffy hiking buddy with a sharp, herb-driven intensity.
This bold cheese is part of the Alpine Trifecta that the Swiss often use in fondue (see recipe, page 126), along with with Gruyère and Emmentaler. Like those other mountain mamas, this is a great melter. It’s also a good table cheese, especially for a crowd since a little goes a long way. Stronger than Gruyère, it packs a nutty wallop with a long finish of fruit peel and herbs.
Appenzeller originated as a monastery cheese with the St. Gallen monks of northeastern Switzerland. Centuries later, this popular style is now produced by seventy-five different cooperatives, and each one uses a slightly different brine solution to wash the wheels as they age. The recipes for this potion are carefully guarded secrets, but most contain some combination of wine or hard cider mixed with herbs. For an artisanal American rendition, try Ascutney Mountain, from Vermont.
Good matches: Melt Appenzeller on homemade pizza or toss it into a gratin. As a snack, serve it with cured meats, cornichons, spiced nuts, mustard, or onion jam.
Wine/beer: Pair this with a blood-red Burgundy or a spicy Gewürztraminer. A big malty fella like a Doppelbock or an Oktoberfest works well. Pack some schnapps if you take this cheese on the slopes.
UNITED STATES, RAW COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A spring sparrow—vegetal with a hint of sweet pea.
Every now and again, a cheese comes along with a flavor so unique it haunts you. Ascutney Mountain is one such cheese—it fills your mouth with the taste of sugar snap peas and sweet cream. Think of risotto. Although the texture is firm, the mouthfeel is creamy, thanks to the rich milk of Jersey cows. The paste is golden with tiny “eyes,” or holes made from air bubbles. (Cheese without holes is called “blind cheese.”)
Ascutney Mountain is made at Cobb Hill, an intentional community in Hartland, Vermont. There, a gypsy band of resident cheesemakers produce this beautiful Alpine offshoot using the Swiss recipe for Appenzeller. Only fifty wheels of Ascutney are produced each week, making this a true small-batch cheese. The wheels are matured for eight to ten months at nearby Jasper Hill, one of the premier ageing caves in the United States. A well-aged wheel can pack a wallop, so always ask for a sample if you plan on pairing this cheese with wine.
Good matches: Make this cheese part of a spring supper of fresh greens, sautéed morels or ramps, and toasted bread. On a hike, pack Ascutney Mountain with a handful of almonds or hazelnuts.
Wine/beer: Serve a lush white or an easygoing lager.
FRANCE, RAW COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: The Paul Revere of Gruyères, an inspiring figure.
Beaufort is a mystical experience. This mountain cheese from the Savoie has a creamy complexity that stirs both the taste buds and the imagination. Are you really tasting wildflowers? Yes. Are those honey-covered almonds dancing in the background? But of course. Several cheese luminaries attribute their livelihoods to a single revelatory Beaufort encounter: cheese expert Patricia Michelson opened a London cheese shop after tasting Beaufort, and renowned Wisconsin cheesemaker Mike Gingrich created Pleasant Ridge Reserve (page 128) in Beaufort’s image. (Above Gingrich’s door at Uplands Creamery, a moonish photo of Beaufort hangs like a talisman.)
What makes this cheese so spectacular? Alpine milk from an ancient breed of Beaufort cows, my friend. Wheels made in spring and summer are prized for their richness and flavor. This is a moist, supple beauty—firm but pliable, with a natural rind that is brined twice a week for a full year as it ages. Beware, a single bite may change your life.
Good matches: On a cheese board, pair this with toasted walnuts, a mild-flavored salami, dried cranberries, and honey. Beaufort is also an excellent melter.
Wine/beer: Try a Chardonnay, Rhône red, or a malty bock beer.
SWITZERLAND, RAW COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A goth version of Gruyère whose name means “Sitting in the Cellar.”
Of all the Alpine cheeses sold at Di Bruno Bros., this one just might be the favorite stepchild. Challerhocker (pronounced “HOLLer-hocker”) is new to the scene, but it’s gained a cult following among cheese heads for its meaty, caramelized flavor and its immodestly silky texture. It’s the cheese equivalent to roasted bone marrow—earthy, herby, buttery, bearish.
Challerhocker is made at a small creamery near Zürich by the cheesemaker Walter Rass. He washes the wheels with a potion of wine, herbs, and spices, then cellars them for ten months or more. If you like Gruyère, you’ll notice that the paste here is smoother, less grainy. If you’re an Appenzeller fan, you’ll find Challerhocker less waxy and very creamy. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, just trust our enthusiasm. This is a strong-cheese lover’s dream. Some customers travel across the state for it.
Good matches: Rent a cabin in the mountains and eat this by the fire, along with walnuts or almonds and dates or dried figs. It’s also wonderful with toasted bread and roasted whole garlic cloves.
Wine/beer: Play off the herbiness with a brambly Syrah, or explore the caramelized notes with a Madeira or sherry. Flying Fish Brewery’s Exit 4, a Belgian-style Trippel with clove notes, is a favorite Di Bruno pairing.