Swiss cheese and chocolate
Switzerland has culinary charms of its own. In addition to the renowned cheeses of the region (which hardly resemble the hole-ridden Swiss cheese of American supermarkets), Switzerland produces some of the finest chocolate in the world and local winemakers quietly create quality Swiss wines that are virtually unknown outside the country’s borders.
Swiss Cheese
The most famous of Switzerland’s cheeses are Emmentaler and Gruyere (though there are many others worth trying). Near Vevey, you can take the ChocolateTrain to Gruyeres for a tour and tasting below the town’s castle. At the Gruyeres factory, visitors take an audio tour at their own pace and learn all about the production of the cheese, as told from one of the dairy cows, Cherry. While the tour can be a bit “cheesy” at times, it’s very informative, and only takes about 30 minutes if you stop at each station and participate in the interactive aspects, like smelling the various scents found in Gruyere (up to 75 have been identified in the cheese). The most exciting part – other than the tasting, of course – is standing above the production line and watching as the workers go through the entire cheese-making process.
Visitors will see the milk and rennet firmed by heat and then poured into molds and pressed. They can look down on the wheels as they sit in a bath of 20% salt (a process that takes 20 hours, by the end of which the cheese has absorbed about half the salt). They can also see the molds that have been resting for 16 hours, during which they are turned regularly, before being moved to a cellar where they will be left to ripen for 5 to 12 months. At the end of the tour, visitors receive a tasting of three cheeses of various ages; after they can hit the gift shop to buy their own cheese or a myriad of other Swiss souvenirs.
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Swiss Chocolate
Chocolate has been made in Switzerland since the 17th century, with milk chocolate production beginning in the early 1800s. You can still visit the factory of the first company to make chocolate in Switzerland, the same company that also invented milk chocolate. François-Louis Cailler learned the art of chocolate making in Italy. After returning to Switzerland he founded one chocolate factory, and then a second, which he later gave to his son-in-law. That son-in-law, Daniel Peter, decided to combine his chocolate with the milk of his neighbor, Henri Nestlé (the Nestle company eventually acquired the Cailler chocolate brand) and milk chocolate was born.
Visitors can now take the Belle Epoque Chocolate train to the Cailler factory. As mentioned above, it first stops in Gruyeres for a visit to the cheese factory, and then visitors travel by bus ten minutes to Broc to visit the Cailler factory. The train runs Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday in May, June, September and October and daily in July and August. A 1st class ticket for the full 9am to 6pm trip, including visiting the cheese factory, Gruyeres castle, and Cailler chocolate shop.
A day trip tour including cheese and chocolate factor y in Gruyères are from $199.35 dollars
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