An extra-hard aged cheese broken into chips or grated over pasta. It was carried by mule over the Alps to Italy on the Sbrinz route from central Switzerland, and it is among Europe’s oldest hard cheeses.
It is a PDO raw-milk cheese scalded in copper and ripened for eighteen months to three years in a controlled cellar — a dairy operation with a very long clock.
What goes into it
- raw cow’s milk from central Switzerland
- rennet
- a whey starter
- salt
How it is made
Raw milk is set in a copper vat, the curd cut to very fine grains and scalded high, then pressed hard into wheels and brined for weeks. The wheels are stored on their sides in a warm room and then a cold cellar for a minimum of eighteen months, losing so much moisture that the cheese ends brittle enough to break rather than slice.
How long it takes: eighteen months minimum, and up to three years
How it is eaten
Broken into chips with an aperitif, shaved over pasta, or grated into soup.
History
Carried by mule over the Alps to Italy on the Sbrinz route in central Switzerland, one of Europe’s oldest hard cheeses.
Frequently asked questions
What is Sbrinz?
Sbrinz is a cheese & dairy from Switzerland: extra-hard aged cheese broken into chips or grated over pasta. Carried by mule over the Alps to Italy on the Sbrinz route in central Switzerland, one of Europe’s oldest hard cheeses.
How is Sbrinz made?
Raw milk is set in a copper vat, the curd cut to very fine grains and scalded high, then pressed hard into wheels and brined for weeks. The wheels are stored on their sides in a warm room and then a cold cellar for a minimum of eighteen months, losing so much moisture that the cheese ends brittle enough to break rather than slice. It takes eighteen months minimum, and up to three years.
Can I make Sbrinz at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is a PDO raw-milk cheese scalded in copper and ripened for eighteen months to three years in a controlled cellar — a dairy operation with a very long clock.
What goes into Sbrinz?
Raw cow’s milk from central Switzerland, rennet, a whey starter, salt.
How is Sbrinz eaten?
Broken into chips with an aperitif, shaved over pasta, or grated into soup.
