Big cheese

Big cheese

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Cheese maker Jacques Murith leans over a glowing vat of whey as he prepares serac, a soft, ricotta-like cheese.

For five generations his family has worked in this picturesque corner of Switzerland to also produce another, more famous dairy product - Gruyere. The firm and slightly nutty-flavoured cheese is both tricky and time-consuming to make, and from mid-May to mid-October the Muriths devote almost all their time to the process.

. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Each wheel of the Muriths’ cheese weighs 25-40 kilograms (55-88 lbs) and takes a minimum of six months to mature. Every year, the family produces around 200 of the hefty slabs from the unpasteurised milk of their dairy herd.

The business has long been passed down the generations, and now Jacques Murith is preparing to hand it on to his 23-year-old son Alexandre, pictured here pulling a trolley full of Gruyere through a ripening cellar.

. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

The family's farm and dairy are based in the mountainous landscape near the town of Gruyeres - the area from which their cheese takes its name.

Video

Cow’s milk is turned into Gruyere through a delicate process, during which cultures and enzymes are added to huge vats of milk, which is heated, stirred, moulded and matured. All sorts of factors can affect the final product, from the temperature of the milk in the morning to the weather outdoors.

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Slideshow

Cows graze among dandelions at the beginning of the cheese-making season.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Cows graze among dandelions at the beginning of the cheese-making season.

Cheese maker and farmer Jacques Murith walks with his cows on the very last day of the season.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Cheese maker and farmer Jacques Murith walks with his cows on the very last day of the season.

During the Gruyere-making process, Murith uses a special implement to split the curd into grains.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

During the Gruyere-making process, Murith uses a special implement to split the curd into grains.

He leans over a vat as he splits the curds.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

He leans over a vat as he splits the curds.

Fire warms the milk in a huge copper cauldron.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Fire warms the milk in a huge copper cauldron.

Murith tastes the whey before removing the grains.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Murith tastes the whey before removing the grains.

Murith and his son Alexandre remove the grain from the whey as they mould a wheel of cheese.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Murith and his son Alexandre remove the grain from the whey as they mould a wheel of cheese.

Murith pushes cheese into a round mould.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Murith pushes cheese into a round mould.

He tests the texture of the newly-made cheese with his fingertips.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

He tests the texture of the newly-made cheese with his fingertips.

His son Alexandre checks fresh wheels of cheese.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

His son Alexandre checks fresh wheels of cheese.

An identification number is stamped onto the side of one of the products.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

An identification number is stamped onto the side of one of the products.

Fresh wheels of cheese are transported through the mountains to a ripening cellar.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Fresh wheels of cheese are transported through the mountains to a ripening cellar.

Jacques Murith (right) poses in traditional bredzon costume with his sons Pierre (2nd right) Alexandre (3rd right) and friends on the day marking the end of the cheese-making season.
. GRUYERES, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Jacques Murith (right) poses in traditional bredzon costume with his sons Pierre (2nd right) Alexandre (3rd right) and friends on the day marking the end of the cheese-making season.