I've found that that a great way to learn about a region and its people is through its food culture – and for this area, it refers to the famous Appenzeller cheese. Since it was supposed to rain all day long, we figured it would be a perfect day for indoor activities. The part of the cheese factory open to visitors is quite small and it's a self-guided tour. The tour consists of a series of panels (some interactive) that explain the raw materials, the process and finally the end product of cheese. The panels surround the central attraction, which is a view into the cheese production facility itself, from a second floor viewing balcony. The most exciting part of the cheese making process that’s visible to the public is seeing the cheese moulds get filled and to see the rounds of cheese get turned automatically by a machine. After checking with the reception that the next filling of the moulds wouldn’t be happening for a while yet, we started off by reading the various info panels and here are a few bits of trivia that we learned:

-       About 1000 farms in the region supply the milk required to make Appenzell cheese – the cows only feed on Alpine pastures in the summer, hay in the winter (no silage) and are not given any antibiotics

-        The herbal brine recipe and the freshness and pureness of the raw milk is what gives Appenzeller its distinctive taste – this recipe, which is derived of various fresh herbs, roots, leaves, flowers and rinds, is heavily guarded and only known in fully by two people

·        Around 9000 tons of Appenzeller cheese are produced each year

·        A cow produces on average 20 L of milk per day

In addition to the panels, you get a glimpse into their cheese cellars which are roughly two stories high and probably about 50 m long and 75 m wide. The cheese rounds are stored on some kind of wooden planks (Gruyere is stored on spruce as we learned later on) and are aged for various lengths (depending on the type of Appenzeller cheese being produced – the minimum aging time is 3 months for the Appenzeller Classic variety). There’s an automated machine that goes down each aisle, removing the rounds, flipping them over, brushing them with brine if required and then putting them back into place. We then sat down in the little theatre to watch a ten minute presentation in English (normally in German but different languages available upon request) on Appenzeller cheese production – Rick Steves seems to think the presentation treads a fine line between informative and advertising but I found it mostly informative (or perhaps that’s because I knew already that I was going to buy the cheese before even entering the factory). The presentation ended with an overview of some of their most famous advertisements (which have immediate brand recognition in Switzerland at least) - I’m sure they would have been funny if we’d understood German.

After the presentation, we hovered by the viewing balcony to wait for the moulds to be filled. It was really interesting to watch the whole process and to see how efficiently it is done. There was only one person on the production floor managing the whole process. I had originally thought that it didn’t require much training or skill for that job since everything is mechanized but it turns out that the determination of when the cheese mixture is ready to pour into the moulds is still a manual process. The cheesemaker must determine when the cheese curds in the big aluminum vat are at the correct consistency and ready to be poured into the moulds. The video is pretty self-explanatory and the only thing you may be wondering about is the circular sheets that are put into the moulds. These edible sheets are inked with the date, batch number and facility of production. This information transfers onto the rind and is one of their tracking and quality control mechanics.

After having watched the production of the cheese, we naturally had to go taste the different varieties (Appenzeller Classic, Surchoix, Extra, Bio, ¼ fat, ¼ fat mild and a few more). We tasted about five different varieties and some of them were just inedible in my opinion (especially the low fat options). Megs and I both really liked the Classic variety so we bought a chunk of that and had it for lunch.

After lunch, we walked over to the Appenzell Folk Museum which is conveniently located next to the cheese factory. This museum covers some of the history, culture and industries of the regions which includes cheese (surprise!) and embroidery. On the ground floor, there was an interactive display that asked you to match what the various types of Appenzeller were best accompanied by. We were surprised to learn that Classic went well with Espresso (will have to try that sometime)! There were amazing displays of cow bells and belts, some dating from the 1800s. To get an idea of the size of the bells, take a look at the photo of Megs standing next to the bells. There was also a life size replica of an alpine farmer’s hut and all his cheesemaking equipment (in the summer months, the milk is turned into cheese up in the alpine huts as it takes too long to transport the milk back to a milk dairy). It was fascinating to see the ornate decorative woordwork on the cheese moulds and butter churns and moulds, too. There is also a life size model of a pack horse typical of the region that was used to carry cheese rounds and we were surprised to learn that a round of cheese weighed between 6-7 kg and they’d load up to 18 rounds per horse!

We then went downstairs which was dedicated to the embroidery industry that was once very successful in the region. A lot of the embroidery was done for the cowherders’ traditional garb which is still worn today, usually when they’re going to or returning from the Alps. The museum also has an original embroidery machine from 1885 that is still operational. Cloth measuring 4 m in width can be embroidered on it using 312 needles simultaneously. We were fortunate enough to see a lady actually using the machine. She was embroidering a pattern of a dog onto a handkerchief and these were actually being sold at the museum. The embroidery industry came into existence because women were looking for independent work while the men were off in the Alps with the cowherds. Eventually, the industry died out because of the mechanization of the machines and the fact that they were too expensive for individuals to buy. We then wandered up to the second floor where they had artwork from regional artists. There were a couple of pieces that we really liked and there was also a wall painting from that dated back to 1597. Having completed our visit of the museum, we decided to head back to camp and have a relaxing afternoon since it was still raining fairly hard outside.

The next morning I finally got to try Rohmilch (that’s raw milk in German)! I woke up at 7:00 am to make sure I was in time get my fresh milk from the milk dairy. Leo, the owner of the campsite, had told me where and when to get the milk. I had asked his girlfriend, Sabuha, to write down in German "I’d like a liter of raw cow’s milk please". With my tupperware container in one had, camera over a shoulder, and my piece of paper, I walked over to the milk collection point which was only a few hundred meters from the campsite. On my way there, I heard some cow bells ringing, soon followed by singing…which could only mean another Alpabfahrt! I stood by to watch them pass and it was really neat to hear the farmers singing as they made their way.

The collection point is very inconspicuous and if you’re not looking for it, you’d just think it was another house. I saw a farmer bringing in his metal milk containers in the back of his truck and that clued me in that I was in the correct spot. He then took what looked like a vacuum hose off the side of the building stuck it into one of the containers. He flicked a button and the milk began to be sucked out of the container. I asked the man in charge if he spoke English and he shook his said so I pulled out my note and handed it to me. He took a second to read it and then smiled and beckoned me to come inside. When I went inside the building, I saw that milk from the vacuum is channeled into a large funnel that strains the milk after which I believe it enters a large stainless steel vat. As the milk is being strained, the quality control samples are collected. The man took my tupperware container, crouched down beside the massive stainless steel vat and opened the tap. My container was filled in a few seconds and after asking him how much it cost, I handed him just 1 SF – if you ask me, that's a bargain for milk that fresh!

I marched back to camp very pleased with my morning’s success and sat down for a bowl of muesli with my raw milk. That evening, we used up more of the milk to make some hot chocolate, too. Being able to drink raw milk rounded off our Appenzell stay quite nicely and definitely complemented the Alpabfahrt, cheese factory and museum visit.