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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Switzerland, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden

Schlipfechäs

A rindless soft cheese from the Appenzell alps, made from raw milk in summer and from pasteurised milk the rest of the year. The milk is soured with a culture at 30 °C, set with rennet, cut fine, warmed only to 35 °C, moulded in tubes and briefly brined. It is not ripened; before eating it is sliced and soaked in salted water or milk for half a day or more. Made in 8 steps over 20 h – 2.3 days. The longest step, slice and soak before eating, takes 12 h – 2 days (Verein Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz 1977). Bacterial culture added at 30 °C does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step12 h – 2 daysReported[kulinarisches-erbe][srf2013]Slice and soak before eating
Temperature30 °CReported[kulinarisches-erbe]Pre-ripen and add the culture
Fully documentedCheese20 h – 2.3 daysnone (Swiss culinary heritage inventory; Slow Food Ark of Taste since 2008)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)More pressed uncooked cheesesMore from Switzerland

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedOne maker's process as recorded in the Swiss culinary heritage inventory; not a fixed recipe. His loaves weigh 500 g to 4 kg.
Fresh cow milk · Raw on the alp; pasteurised for the year-round version; the maker cited uses whole milk[kulinarisches-erbe]
Bacterial culture[kulinarisches-erbe]
Rennet[kulinarisches-erbe]
Salt water · For the brine and for soaking the slices before eating[kulinarisches-erbe][srf2013]
Starter: bacterial culture and rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 h – 2.3 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: fresh cow milk in the cheese kettle

Step 1 of 8
Pour the fresh milk into the kettle
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Raw milk is used only in the alpine months; a pasteurised version is made all year.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Schlipfechäs is not ripened at all; it is sliced and soaked in salted liquid before eating, which softens it. The inventory suggests the habit began with young cheeses that dried out in the cellar and had to be soaked.

Rind
None
Fat
At least 45 % fat in dry matter at the maker described; about 25 % in the past, from skimmed milk
Size
Loaves of 500 g to 4 kg

Related ferments

Variants

  • Alp versionRaw milk, made only during the alpine summer.
  • Year-round versionPasteurised milk.

Safety

The alpine version is made from raw milk and eaten fresh. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than pressed cooked ones, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus (risks named for raw-milk cheeses).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The maker in the inventory thinks the cheese is 150–200 years old and suited herders because it could be eaten after a day, though this is not written down. An 1835 account of Appenzell describes herders living on milk, whey, Zieger, butter, cheese and bread. Since federal support for cream was cut back, the cheese has also been made from whole milk; it once had about 25 % fat in dry matter. Slow Food Switzerland added it to its Ark of Taste in 2008.

  1. [kulinarisches-erbe] Verein Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz, national inventory entry «Schlipfechäs» (bibliography includes Fuchs F. 1977, Bauernarbeit in Appenzell Innerrhoden)archive
  2. [srf2013] SRF, «SRF bi de Lüt - Landfrauenküche», Rezepte 2013, Gemischte Vorspeisen, «Schlipfechäs» (Erna Köfer)web
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov