Appenzeller

Appenzeller

What it is

Every wheel is rubbed down through months of ageing with a herbal brine called Sulz — wine or cider, salt, and a mixture said to run to some twenty-five herbs, roots, barks and seeds. The recipe sits in a bank vault two people can open, and it is that wash, not the milk, that puts the fermented, almost meaty bite into the rind.

In the kitchen

Eat the rind — it is where the Sulz is, and the paste alone tastes like an ordinary mountain cheese. Melted it bullies everything around it, so cut a gratin half and half with Gruyère rather than letting it stand on its own.

Goes with

Potato Onion Cider vinegar Black pepper Rye berries Apple Cumin Pear

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us