ADNA — Most Americans think they have tried Swiss cheese at some point in their lives.

    But they’re wrong, said Sharon McCool of Rosecrest Farms in Adna.

    Real Swiss cheese, McCool explained, is actually nothing like the soft, white, holey slices usually paired with ham on rye or left at the tail end of a cheese platter. It is harder, nuttier and tastes sweet like the grass on which the cows feed.

    “The packaged stuff in the store, it’s like the flavor has been taken out of it and you end up eating, well, plastic,” McCool said while stirring a vat of curds and whey at her farm on a recent morning.

McCool’s husband, Gary, has been a dairyman for more than 25 years and she joined the family business 20 years ago when she married him. They became an Organic Valley Dairy three years ago. Two years ago she decided to start making cheese. McCool said she loves the life of a dairy farmer but wanted to add another piece to their farm to both supplement her income and give her something to do during some of the down time on the farm. She chose Swiss cheese because no other cheesemakers in the area were making it.

    “Even if you don’t like it it’s on your cheese platter and no one else was making it,” McCool said.

    She learned her trade from Don Gurber, 82, from Oregon. The veteran cheese maker had been in the business for many years, even traveling to Switzerland to learn the art of Swiss cheese from the masters. Gurber took out an ad in the Capital Press looking for someone to whom he could pass on his knowledge. Gary McCool saw the ad and passed it on to Sharon.

    Gurber gave McCool all his books and recipes and came up to their farm to train her. He has also stayed in contact with her and checks in from time to time to see how her cheese is coming along. The McCools were recently at the Big Wedge in Portland and Gurber came by to try their cheese.

    “He said my little Mutschli wheel was the closest you can get to the real thing,” McCool said. “That was really neat.”

    McCool makes 25-30 pounds of Swiss cheese every other day. She said her secret is good milk from grazing cows.

    McCool said she can even taste a difference in the curd depending on what the cows are grazing on. McCool goes straight from milking her cows to making cheese, which is also something she feels makes her cheese better.

    “The milk never gets a chance to cool or get old before I’m making it into cheese,” she explained.

    It takes about four hours to go from milk to a cheese that’s ready to age. Because her cheeses are unpasteurized product, they must be aged for at least 60 days before being sold to the public but McCool said she thinks the 90-day cheeses taste even better. As with many artisan products, the longer a traditional Swiss cheese ages, the better. Swiss cheese naturally produces its own rind, which will tend to produce mold that should be wiped off from time to time. But the cheese inside that rind just continues to develop as it gets older as long as it is kept in a sufficiently cool area.

    “In Switzerland when a child is born they make a wheel of cheese and when that child gets married they get that wheel of cheese, so it’ll last for a long time,” McCool said.

    American-style Swiss cheese may be recognized by its large, round holes. The type of bacteria used to make Swiss cheese does give it holes but in authentic Swiss cheese they are more subtle and less uniform. When describing traditional Swiss cheese’s flavor, McCool said it is a good melting cheese with a nutty flavor more in line with an Emmentaler, Gruyere or even Parmigiano-Reggiano. In fact, McCool said one of her favorite applications for her Swiss cheese is actually to use it in place of Parmesan.

    “The Mutschli are better and more flavorful than Parmesan and it gives you a different taste in something like a spaghetti sauce or a soup,” McCool said.

    McCool sells her Swiss cheese at her farm off Spooner Road in Adna as well as at the Olympia Food Co-op, Bailey’s IGA in Rochester, Dave’s Thriftway in Tenino and Cedar Village IGA in Winlock. Another place people can now try her handiwork is at the restaurant on the top of the Space Needle in Seattle. Chefs there tried McCool’s cheeses at Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle last year and called her to ask if they could use some of her Swiss cheese. Her Country Herb and Garlic Swiss are featured in their Autumn Vegetable Gateau.

    “Last time I went there I took them 20 pounds,” McCool said. “Every time I go they take more. It’s really exciting.”

    Carrina Stanton is a freelance writer who lives in Centralia. She can be reached at carrinastanton@yahoo.com.

Rosecrest Farms

439 Spooner Road, Adna

(360) 740-8988

Alfredo Fettuccini

¾     cups Rosecrest Farms “regular” Mutschli cheese, grated

8     ounces cream cheese,

cut into bits

½    cup butter

½     cup milk

8     ounces fettuccini pasta, cooked and drained

    In a large saucepan combine cream cheese, Mutschli cheese, butter and milk, stirring constantly until smooth. Toss pasta with sauce, coating well.

Caesar Salad

3     tablespoons olive oil

4½    teaspoons lemon juice

1     teaspoon prepared mustard

1     garlic clove, minced

6     cups torn romaine lettuce

⅔     cup Caesar salad croutons

½     cup Rosecrest Farms Mountain Swiss

Coarsely ground pepper to taste

    In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine oil, lemon juice, mustard and garlic; shake well. In a salad bowl, combine romaine, croutons, Swiss cheese and pepper. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Makes 4 servings.