If you like Gruyère cheese – and considering it's sold in 60 different countries, lots of people do, then visiting the remote Swiss town of Gruyère in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, where it's made, is a real treat.

Gruyère has so much to see and do whatever the season, visiting the cheese factory is just one of the fascinating places to see. Close by is the Chocolaterie de Gruyère, then be sure to meander up the hillside (or take the bus) to the picturesque pedestrian town of Gruyère said to have been founded in 400BC by the king of the vandals, Gruerius. Here you'll find a magnificent 13^th century castle – Chateau de Gruyère, cobbled streets where every traditional Swiss building is something special.Quaint shops, inns, cafés, restaurants, art galleries, charming hotels; and the incredible HR Giger Museum and Giger Bar – of Aliens fame.

How Gruyère cheese is made

But back down to Gruyère-ville, La Maison du Gruyère is an amazing demonstration cheese dairy. It's a bright fresh welcoming building and immediately you can look through a glass windowed wall down at the cheese maturing cellars to where up to 7,000 wheels of Gruyère AOP cheeses are stored. This cheese has been made using a traditional recipe since 1115AD with the skills and techniques passed down from generation to generation. The initials AOP stand for Appellation d'origine protegee – the official guarantee of origin.

At La Maison du Gruyère visitors can watch the cheese being made through glass windows, looking down at four huge 4,800 litre copper vats and see the expert cheese makers creating this special cheese. These four vats will make 48 wheels of Gruyère, each wheel weighing 35 kilograms. You can take a tour using headphones and discover the skill required to become a master cheese maker and watch a film of the entire process. There are also lots of 'hands on' and interactive activities which engage all five senses.

A healthy diet for Gruyère cows

For our visit, we were fortunate enough to talk to Fabienne Porchet – Director of La Maison du Gruyère who explained that cows destined to produce milk for Gruyère AOP cheese are fed exclusively on natural silage-free fodder without any additives or antibiotics. They are fed fresh grass in the summer and hay in the winter. Each cow will eat 100kg of grass and drink 85 litres of water per day, producing an average of 25 litres of milk per day. 12 litres of milk produces 1kg of Gruyère AOP cheese.

Fabienne explained the process from the morning's milking being added to the previous evening's milking. How the cheese maker adds the lactic acid bacteria that will mature the milk and rennet that will cause the milk to coagulate. Then using rakes known as cheese harps they separate the curd into grains, and the contents of each vat is slowly heated for 40 to 45 minutes to 57 degrees C. All the while being carefully monitored by the cheese maker who remains highly vigilant checking the texture and elasticity of the mixture to determine when the cheese needs to be removed. Pumps then transfer the mixture into moulds. The whey, a side product of cheese production, falls into basins and will later be used to feed farm animals.

The all-important traceability

The next process is for the cheese maker to prepare the casein identification marks which contains the date of fabrication, the number of the wheel and the cheese dairy. Casein is a natural milk protein. Fabienne stressed the importance of traceability in the Gruyère AOP's production. "This is like each cheese's passport so that we can trace it right back. We also put a little sample of milk from each milk delivery in the fridge for 8 months. To say it's Gruyère AOP cheese it must tick all the boxes."

Each cheese is then pressed for 20 hours then placed in a salt-water bath for 24 hours; it's then stored in a cellar for three months. Each cheese it turned and rubbed almost daily in order for a nice rind to develop which protects the wheel of cheese. After three months of storage in the maker's cellar the wheels are transported to a ripening cellar to complete their slow maturation for 5 to 18 months at a temperature of 15 degrees C and humidity of 90%. During this time the cheese wheels are regularly turned and rubbed with a salt-water solution. After 5 months the cheese wheels are inspected by a neutral commission to decide if all the quality requirements are met. Only then may a cheese wheel be graced with the name Le Gruyère AOP.

Our thanks to Fabienne Porchet – Director of La Maison du Gruyère and the Office du Tourisme de Gruyères.

www.la-gruyere.ch/gruyere