March 19, 2024
Cheese Wisdom: A nutty semi-firm cheese from high in the Alps
The cheese’s sweet notes come from the cow’s diet of wildflowers
by Anita Skogland
Rockflower Cow’s Milk, Entlebuch, Switzerland
Where to Purchase: The Loyalist Market, Matthews
Price: $34.99/lb.
The Style: Dense, semi-firm paste with a fudge-like consistency. Made from raw cow’s milk from animals who feed high in the alps on spring and summer wildflowers.
Flavor Profile: Toasted pine nut, roasted onion, fresh cream, stone fruit, lightly sweet.
How to Enjoy: On a cheese board with d’Anjou pear slices, dried apricots, roasted cashews, and tangerine pieces. Grate onto roasted broccoli. Thin slices on crackers or baguette with spicy mustard.
Wine Pairings: Crisp, dry white, Trocken Riesling, dry Chardonnay, Viognier, Dolcetto d’Alba, Champagne or sparkling Sekt from Germany. The lightly sweet Oloroso or Amontillado sherries would also enhance the cheese’s nutty flavors.
Extra Reading: The Schopfe family has been making cheese for three generations in the Swiss Alps. They source their milk from nine local dairies. Their primary cheese is Emmenthal, which has strict rules on production amounts. The Rockflower was developed to use any excess milk produced. The sweetness in Rockflower is from the cow’s diet of wildflowers during prime milk production months. This cheese is made in twelve lb. wheels, and aged four months in the mountain caves. It is then moved to lower elevation and aged for six-ten months in caves until it reaches full maturity.
