[HN Gopher] Why does Swiss cheese have holes?
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Why does Swiss cheese have holes?
Author : QueensGambit
Score : 19 points
Date : 2025-10-28 16:45 UTC (5 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.usdairy.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.usdairy.com)
| kleiba wrote:
| The term "Swiss cheese" is a constant source of amusement for
| people from Europe... you know, like, there is only _one_ type of
| cheese made in Switzerland...
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| It usually means Gruyere cheese.
| kgwgk wrote:
| Which has no holes. (The cheese known as Gruyere in
| Switzerland, I mean.)
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| Well - sure. Ever heard the phrase "contrary to popular
| belief"? :)
| kgwgk wrote:
| But US Gruyere cheese DOES have holes: https://www.ecfr.g
| ov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B...
| ofalkaed wrote:
| American Swiss cheese developed from Emmental cheese.
| riffraff wrote:
| It is odd, but people often confuse Emmenthaler and
| Gruyere.
|
| Even in Italian (just across the border!) it was not
| uncommon to hear expressions like "full of holes like
| groviera", and it seems in French it's the same based on
| the existence of this Wikipedia page https://fr.wikipedia.o
| rg/wiki/Paradoxe_du_fromage_%C3%A0_tro...
|
| Language is just strange.
| kgwgk wrote:
| They also have their own "Gruyere" - different from the
| Swiss one and with holes - in France:
|
| https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruy%C3%A8re_fran%C3%A7ais
|
| They also have a cheese similar to the Gruyere from
| Switzerland, but with a different name (the Gruyere part
| dropped from the name over time):
|
| https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comt%C3%A9_(fromage)
| dragonwriter wrote:
| As noted in the article, it is the cheese internationally
| known as Emmental, not Gruyere. (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 SS
| 133.195, Gruyere at 21 CFR SS 133.149.
| jahbrewski wrote:
| Call me naive, but honestly never made the connection between
| swiss cheese and Switzerland.
| netsharc wrote:
| 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")
| sojournerc wrote:
| It's like saying "cheddar". Cheese is assumed
| criemen wrote:
| In German, "Swiss cheese" is a term that's well known, and
| doesn't count that kind of amusement.
|
| For example, you could say that something "looks like swiss
| cheese" when it has a lot of holes in it, like very old
| clothing. It's often used slightly ironic, but that's not due
| to what you state.
| gus_massa wrote:
| But ... why only a few big holes? Sometimes "fresh cheese"
| develop a lot of small holes (and a strong flavor), but no big
| holes. Why big holes?
| ofalkaed wrote:
| Baby Swiss and Lacey Swiss are small hole varieties.
| riffraff wrote:
| Many small holes collapsing into a few large ones, perhaps? You
| can sometimes see where two holes merged.
| tmnvix wrote:
| Tom Scott on why Swiss Cheese was losing its holes (spoiler: the
| process became too sanitised - reintroducing impurities solved
| the problem).
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evV05QeSjAw
| l5870uoo9y wrote:
| Another fact about Emmentaler cheese is that it has a relative
| low salt content compared to other cheeses.
| shevy-java wrote:
| Because the damn swiss folks really want to sell more cheese,
| without actually producing more cheese!
|
| So the proper way is to cut half the cheese out, say that holes
| are NECESSARY and IMPORTANT - and then sell twice as much as
| before. They are a genius people.
| mark-r wrote:
| Isn't cheese usually sold by weight? So your theory, erm, has
| holes in it.
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