Tilsit cheese
| Tilsit | |
|---|---|
| Tilsiter cheese | |
| Other names | Tilsit cheese, Tilsiter cheese |
| Country of origin | Germany (East Prussia) |
| Texture | semi-hard |
| Certification | Holsteiner Tilsiter PGI (Dec. 2013)[1] |
 [[Commons:Category:Lua error in Module:Wikidata at line 446: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |Related media on Wikimedia Commons]] |
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Tilsit cheese or Tilsiter cheese is a light yellow semihard smear-ripened[2] cheese, created in the mid-19th century by Prussian-Swiss settlers, the Westphal family, from the Emmental valley. The original buildings from the cheese plant still exist in Sovetsk, Russia, formerly Tilsit, on the Neman River in the former German province of East Prussia.[3]
The same ingredients to make the cheese were not available as in their home country, and the cheese became colonized by different molds, yeasts, and bacteria in the humid climate. The result was a cheese that was more intense and full-flavoured. The settlers named the cheese after Tilsit, the Prussian town where they had settled. [3]
Tilsiter has a medium-firm texture with irregular holes or cracks. Commercially produced Tilsiter is made from pasteurized cow's milk, ranges from 30 to 60% milk fat,[4] and has a dark yellow rind. After the main part of its production, the cheese needs to rest for an additional 2 months.[5] Often flavoured with caraway seed and peppercorns, Tilsiter is a complement to hearty brown/rye breads and dark beers. It is a common table cheese, yet versatile. Tilsit can be eaten cubed in salads, melted in sauces, on potatoes, in flans, or on burgers.
Using the reimported recipe, Tilsiter has been manufactured in Switzerland since 1893. Swiss Tilsiter is mainly produced in three varieties. A mild version (green label) is made from pasteurized milk, a more strongly flavoured one from fresh, unpasteurized milk (red label), and the yellow-labeled "Rahm-Tilsiter" is produced from pasteurized milk with added cream.[6]
After World War II, when Tilsit and the rest of northern East Prussia became the Soviet Kaliningrad Oblast district, Tilsiter-style cheeses were produced in Switzerland and Germany.
See also
References
- ↑ DOOR European Certification Database entry (accessed Jul. 2014)
- ↑ Fox, Patrick. Cheese: Chemistry, Physics and Microbiology. p. 200.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Codex International Individual Standard For Tilsiter"
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Tilsit cheese in the online Culinary Heritage of Switzerland database.
- Holsteiner Tilsiter
