As a Frenchman I disagree, cheese is very sensitive to environmental condition, in particular during transport. To eat a good piece of St Nectaire, first go to to St Nectaire (eat the crust too!)

As an American living in CH, I say send all of the (bland) Emmentaler to the U.S.; I wouldn't miss it! ;-) Inländervorrang for the rest!

Swiss consumers are wealthier than American consumers.

What you are describing holds true only if the buyer values the higher quality, which is true for coffee.

But if you can send the cheap stuff and get the same price why not do that and keep the high quality items for the local market?

Southern Europeans export their tasteless tomatoes to Northern Europe because people there don’t value tasty tomatoes that much. So southern Europeans keep the good vegetables for themselves.

> Why on Earth would they intentionally export only their garbage cheese?

This usually happens when one population is discerning and the other is not.

Different countries have different tastes (Coca Cola has a different syrup mixture for each countries for instance). There's a YouTube video from a franco-japanese guy who interview a Japanese cheese maker. He was trained by a Swiss person (but in the US, of all places) and softly complained that Japanese palate favored more bland cheese compared to what he experienced.

So it makes sense for a Swiss cheese maker to export a more marketable cheese, which are generally less strong and younger than the local one. Just like there's an export Guinness or Kilkenny that different from one you'd get in Ireland.

Of note: cheese label are strongly protected in Europe; you cannot legally sell an AOP labelled cheese without adhering to strict guideline about the raw material (including geographic provenance) and processing.

Same reason why it’s hard to buy a decent Swiss wine: the good stuff makes it into bellies before it gets to the border!

so a tourist will go to switzerland love it and hate it once they're home? very good export business

because their garbage cheese is still miles better than what other people make, and there's no cheese market large enough and rich enough to pay them what their top cheese is worth, so its worth more just to keep it for themselves

If you believe that price equals quality, the fact that Switzerland is an order of magnitude richer than Peru - and considerably richer than the US - might make all the difference.

I think perhaps what is going on here is that the most commonly exported variety of cheese exported from Switzerland is Emmentaler, which matches the US taste profile (and has holes), but in Switzerland is considered a rather bland variety compared to e.g. Gruyere or Appenzeller. Maybe that got a bit exaggerated and it was labeled as "junk" cheese somewhere along the chain of communication.

> that cheese does not come from Switzerland

The canton of Bern makes an absolutely excellent Emmantaler. It’s the original Swiss cheese as brought to America by 19th-century Swiss immigrants to Wisconsin.

In two minds as to your sarcasm level. Anyone who has eaten bacon in Denmark or Raclette in Switzerland or a fresh pasta sauce in Italy could testify that the best stays home

In German „Swiss cheese“ simply means „Schweizer Käse“ or „Käse aus der Schweiz“ - but you’ll usually still find the exact type like Emmentaler on the label and packaging. So, as a German, it’s a bit amusing indeed.

No because "Swiss cheese" means "Emmentaler", not "Schweizer Käse". Quote from the article:

> In the U.S., we call it “Swiss” cheese, while in Switzerland, it’s known as Emmental.

> Similar to eating a Danish pastry, like the Danish only made one type of pastry...

Amusingly, the danish pastry would be called "wienerbrød" meaning: bread from Vienna. like the Viennese only made one type of pastry...

Luckily, the Viennese don't call it something-from-somewhere, so the chain ends at 3. I wonder if there is a 4-chain of terms anywhere.

I'd rather be known for Swiss cheese than American cheese. At least Swiss is actually cheese and not a cheese product. American cheese is nasty. It baffles me people not only eat it, but also like it

Emmentaler and Gruyère close in texture and flavour and interchangeable? Oh boy, if you ever travel to Switzerland, I recommend you to keep your opinions on cheese to yourself. ;) Emmentaler has holes, is low in salt and has a taste which is on the bland side (I personally don't like it), whereas Gruyère has no holes, is saltier and has a much richer and "rounder" flavour. It comes in different stages of ripening, from young, which is soft in texture and mild, to old, which is hard and has a much stronger flavour. I personally like Gruyère mi-salé a lot, the semi-ripened one. It's close to a perfect cheese if you ask me.

I am from Spain and it is the same in my country. If you ask the average Spanish person about "queso suizo", they will picture Emmental or Gruyere with the stereotypical holes in it.

If they are close in taste then you have very mild versions and sup-par versions of them.

Only in France. For some reason, the names for Gruyère and Emmental got swapped there.

As noted in the article, it is the cheese internationally known as Emmental, not Gruyère. Both Swiss and Gruyere cheese are regulated food names in the US Swiss (Emmentaler is an alternative name in the regs, but is a label of geographic origin in Switzerland) is defined at 21 CFR § 133.195, Gruyere at 21 CFR § 133.149.

Which has no holes. (The cheese known as Gruyère in Switzerland, I mean.)

American Swiss cheese developed from Emmental cheese.

When I was in the US and told people I was from Switzerland or said 'Swiss' most people said 'I love Sweden'. So I'm not surprised.

I live in the country, and when I went to USA I found it amusing that a sandwich's ingredients include "Swiss". (No mention of "cheese")

> honestly never made the connection between swiss cheese and Switzerland

Swiss cheese usually refers to Emmentaler. It comes from the Emme Valley, in Bern canton. It’s delicious and one of the OG three of Depression-era fondue. (Gruyère and Appenzeller. Vacherin can come too.)

It’s called Swiss cheese because Wisconsin has a sizable 19th century ethnically Swiss diaspora. (Wisconsin also has a diaspora from Parma. It’s suspected the soft cheese they make is closer to what Parmesan was before WWII than Parmigiano Reggiano, though I personally find the latter tastier.)

That's a good idea, but if the holes collapse I expect more variation in size. My guess is that the CO2 diffuses until it finds a nearby hole.

Did someone put a whole cheese in MNR to track the holes? (I guess an ultrasound image device is cheaper. Is it possible to use a CT adding contrast to the cheese?)

I don't believe Baby Swiss is actually a variety of Swiss (Emmental) cheese, rather than a completely different cheese. IIRC Baby Swiss was invented in America and uses a different process.

I am not familiar with Lacey Swiss so no opinion on that one.

The fancy Emmentaler sometimes has water in the holes. So that increases the weight.

Fun fact, but also fake news. Emmethaler cheese has holes even in Switzerland. It's the only part of that cheese that tastes any good, so why remove them?

And how would they know if my cheese has holes, given that there is a non-zero probability that a random cut over a piece of cheese goes through no holes at all? They would have to make so many cuts that the cheese becomes grated. And grated cheese most definitely doesn't have holes!

This is bullshit, Emmentaler has holes here as well.

Source: am Swiss, live in Emmental

> in Switzerland the holes are not permitted

For Emmentaler?

And unfortunately for one guy the grail was holy, not holey.