Sbrinz is a very hard cheese produced in Central Switzerland. It is often used as grated cheese in Swiss cuisine, although it is also eaten in small pieces. The cheese is produced in only 42 dairies in Central Switzerland. Only local cow's milk is used when producing this cheese. It is kept in the region until ready for consumption. It is the hardest of Swiss cheeses together with Berner Hobelkäse.
Sbrinz
Muleteers on the Via Sbrinz, a former trade route between Central Switzerland and Italy.
A five-year-old Sbrinz
Swiss cheeses and dairy products
Switzerland has a strong and ancestral dairy farming and cheesemaking tradition. The breeding of cattle, sheep and goats for milk is attested in the Neolithic period and, since Antiquity, cheese has been exported from the Alpine regions. The rugged nature of the country makes approximately 80% of the agricultural land unsuitable for cultivation, which is therefore mainly exploited for cattle and sheep farming. This mode of exploitation has forged a large part of the Swiss landscape, in the Alps, the Jura and on the Swiss Plateau.
An armailli transporting a wheel of cheese from the alp.
Landscape of Gruyère
Dairy cows in the Emmental
A Valais Blackneck in the high Alps