Saanen
Saanen, which also is called Walliser or Walliskase, is a hard cheese
similar
to Swiss and to Spalen or Sbrinza. It is made from cow's milk in the
Cantons of Bern and Wallis (Valais) and nearby areas in Switzerland,
where its manufacture dates back to the sixteenth century. The cheeses
are 12 to 16 inches in diameter, 3 to 3 1/2 inches thick, and weighs
usually
between 12 and 25 pounds. The curd is very firm, and in aged cheese
it is brittle and deep yellow in color.
Saanen is made in much the same way as Swiss except that, like Spalen,
the curd is heated to a higher temperature, it is firmer, and it contains
less
moisture; the eyes are smaller and fewer in number; and the cheeses are
smaller and they are cured for a much longer period. They are cured for
at least 3 years and not infrequently for 7 years or more. Much of the
fully cured (aged) cheese is used for grating.
It is not unusual for a cheese to be accorded great honor in a household
and for it to be kept for many decades. It is the custom to make a cheese
at the birth of a child and to eat ****tions of the cheese on feast days
during
his life and at his burial and also to honor his descendants on similar
occa-
sions. It is said that one cheese was kept for such use for 200 years.
Analysis: Moisture, 25 percent.
USDA Agr. Handbook No. 54, Cheese Varieties and Descriptions,
George P. Sanders, issued December, 1953
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