Mutschli 12.5.14

[Alpkäserei]

Today I will make a Mutschli from about 20 gallons of fresh raw milk. I will record much of the process and post it here

Mutschli is a 'HalbhartKäse' or Half hard (semi hard) cheese produced in the Canton of Bern. Mutschli in Swiss German is a diminutive term for anything that is small and round, or also sometimes can be used to refer to a foolish person. In Central Switzerland Mutschli refers to a small loaf of bread. In the Canton of Bern it refers to a small cheese.

Mutschli is the Bernese version of the common 'Hirtenkäse' or Herdsman's cheese. These cheeses were traditionally made for the direct consumption by the farmers, rather than for sale. As such they are softer so that they do not need aged as long, often being eaten after a few weeks of aging. Historically speaking, these are probably the oldest cheese type, the longer aged alpine cheeses being adapted from them by adjusting the recipe so that they store better, being more suited to transport across long distances.

Appenzeller cheese is another example of the Swiss Halbhartkäse, the recipe of Appenzeller is almost identical to the Bernese Mutschli. Mutschli tends to lack the special herb treatment, however.

Mutschli is not a protected or standardized cheese. Everyone who makes it does so differently. My own recipe is tailored to suit Indiana law -adapted for an aging period of 60 days.
My own recipe involves an infusion of a special herb blend into the milk to add flavor and depth.

[ArnaudForestier]

Alp,

One question I've had.  If as I understand it, it's Swiss alpine practice to use these cheeses as a sort of opening round using whey starter, to in essence strengthen the starter and get it consistently performing for the requirements of the hard alpines, how is that done, if the process is different, you know?  Different temps and process will yield a different thermo blend, presumably not as useful for the harder cheeses later in the season as simply doing a bunch of small cheeses, using the same process as the larger, hard wheels - yes?

[DrChile]

Looking forward to hearing about the Mutschli. 

That word "Mutschli" sounds so familiar - i feel like I've heard my grandfather say that word before - usually when we were acting silly as youngsters...

Trent

[Alpkäserei]

The making of mutschli or Raclette does help to develop diversity in the culture, yes, but that's not really why you do it. It's done during te beginning and end of the alpseason when the milk quality is not as good. It lets you produce a useful product when your standards for Alkäse are not met.

Also these will be made during the winter season in the valley (because the alp season is 70 to 100 days, and a cow's lactation cycle is around 300 to 305 days)

Which means, you are making your peak season cheese into something intended for sale, and your off season milk is largely made into something you yourself will eat (mutschli, yogurt, butter, etc.)

[Alpkäserei]

Trent,
was your father from Switzerland? Because that is one way you certainly could use Mutschli...

[Alpkäserei]

Well the make today went very well. Even though it wasn't done under ideal conditions (I don't have my make room set up, so I had to... improvise) everything happened like it was supposed to. Curd set up exactly like it should have in just the right amount of time (a short set, because I don't want to bond too much of the cream into the cheese. Mutschli is not supposed to be a creamy cheese)

Curd cut beautifully, brewed well, heated perfectly and bonded perfectly. I took off a small bit to eat fresh and this under only its own weight knit together flawlessly. That is great.
But that's one of the traits of Mutschli, is that it is a very easy cheese to make.

Now it's in the press, last time I flipped it it looked great. I can tell it is knit very well, now I just need to press the lines out of it.

Pictures, of course...


Here is one place where I improvised. Rough cut with a knife into 1" squares and stirred with 2 saucers to get the first cutting done.

And the curd cut very beautifully...




The recipe of this make is:

Mix milk and culture and herb infusion (my herb mixtures shall not be disclosed, sorry)
Heat to 32
add rennet, stir very well
Set for 30 minutes
Cut coursely and stir for 5 minutes
stir with harp for 5 to 10 minutes, get curd grains the size of a coffee bean
brew the curd for 20 minutes
heat slowly to 43 degrees over a period of about 20 minutes
let the curd settle
draw the curd out with cheesecloth and kneed into form

the last draw is not so good for the cheese, it will be drier, so just eat it.

Press for 20 hours or so

Then I will air dry it for 2 hours and brine it for 48 hours
It will then be washed in a special brine. I haven't decided exactly which.
I will age this cheese for maybe 4 or 5 weeks

This final cheese will be very similar to an Appenzeller...

[ArnaudForestier]

Very cool, Alp.  Thanks.  Also, thanks on the whey culture and early season.  So, not so much to refine the whey culture in prepping it for your hard alpines, but due to the milk quality of early lactation.  I'm sort of running into this, myself - only want to produce my take on Abondance during lush pasture; but that's a lot of months on milk vacant (Feb-late April or early May; October-mid November). I think I'll probably end up doing a more manipulated cheese early (like a stinky reblochon, more than usual, or something like that), with Abondance and tommes through Spring and the Abondance as a summer flagship.

[Alpkäserei]

Yes, that's more or less what I learned.

Alpkäse is the finest cheese they make (and really, it's one of the best cheeses there is. It is a shame it is unknown to the rest of the world) and only the highest quality milk is accepted.

So that does mean they have a LOT of extra milk.

Traditionally, like I said, the Mutschli is a cheese that's made for the farmers themselves. It's easy, and can be eaten right away if you want to.
Alpkäse evolved during the middle ages in response to the rise of trade, especially with Italy (Berner Alpkäse and Sbrinz were very important cheeses in Medieval Italy, and are thought to be the inspiration that led to the invention of Parmesan and other Grana cheeses which now, ironically, are being shipped back in the opposite direction). But historically (and even today) this represents a pretty small (1/4 to 1/3) portion of the region's cheese production just because of simple logistics.

In the 19th century, the region nearly switched over to valley based cheese producers with only a small numbers of alpine herdsman remaining for a few decades but, fortunately, they came to appreciate the true alpine cheeses and developed a strong demand for them such that they are today back in the position of the region's most prominent cheese.

Mutschli has only found its way into trade in the last few decades. The Swiss cheese market has always been dominated by sharp aged cheeses, there was no room for a softer cheese with a milder flavor. In the past people would have just made their own semi hard cheeses and purchased only the aged hard cheeses. But today, as there are more and more people without direct farm connections, mild cheeses have an important place in the market so you now start to see more and more cheese producers putting out things like Mutschli and Tilsiter.

[ArnaudForestier]

Fascinating.  Love the lore, enriches us all.  Thanks, Alp.

Have you investigated this stuff with texts, or mostly oral conveyance of this history and lore?

[Alpkäserei]

One thing I encountered with this cheese that I have never had happen before,
This cheese when I stirred the curd developed clumps of butter floating on the top -the agitation of stirring whipped the butterfat out of the whey. This happened because the milk was incredibly rich, richer than an Alpine make can make us of (the nature of this make limits the amount of fat that can actually be in the cheese)


As to the history,
a bit of both. You can read a lot about it. There are, as always, conflicting viewpoints.

[Alpkäserei]

snapped a picture while flipping and redressing the cheese.

[Bear and Bunny cheese]

Fantastic post.  Beautiful cheese Alp.  As you mentioned, this is quite similar to the make procedure of the Appenzeller I made this week.  As always thanks for sharing your talents with us.

[Bear and Bunny cheese]

Interesting, you mix the herb infusion into the milk at culturing time.  I thought it was only for rind washing.  Is there alcohol in your herb mix and if so does it have any effect on the process?

[DrChile]

fantastic post.  Appreciate your wisdom, as always.

(Grandfather was swiss-german mennonite)

Trent

[Alpkäserei]

The herb infusion is not quite the same as Appenzeller's herb treatment.
This is something I came up with myself, as an attempt to make up for my lack of having alpine pasture. That is one distinguishing characteristic of Berner Alpkäse is the rich herbal undertones of the cheese that come from the pasture itself that I can't get in Indiana (even though our Indiana pasture is pretty herbally rich, it's no Alpweide)
So I am experimenting with infusing herbal compounds directly into the raw milk to see if I can get some of that flavor in my aged cheeses.

With appenzeller, you treat the finished cheese with herbs to get a flavorful rind. It's not bound into the cheese so much as placed on it.