27/08/2026
Spent the day in a hair net at 1500 meters with these beautiful people, as part of a new Cheese Journeys tour with Gourmino — a cooperative of artisan raw-milk cheese producers in Switzerland. We made exactly one alpage cheese in a copper vat using wood-fired steam to heat the milk. Most of the work was done by superstar cheesemaker Stefan Scherrer (king of Sbrinz), along with the cheese-loving wonder-team behind FireFly Farms Creamery in Oregon, Wisconsin. Thank you, Jeanne & Uriah Carpenter! Old pal Joe was also in the house from New Jersey! It was international day on the Alp Fluonalp Alpkäserei und Alp-Beizli, which is a magical place where you can make cheese, hike, spend the night, and enjoy fabulous mountain food, like Alp Macaroni, followed by coffee and fresh cream spiked with apricot schnapps!
Most amazing of all: we learned there is a yodeling club of Alpine cheesemakers, and Stefan is a part of it. We also learned that some cheesemakers still yodel every night in the mountains as a form of prayer to bless their herds and the future of their work.
What a beautiful place this is, surrounded by raw-milk lovers at the top of the world!
🇨🇭🧀🇨🇭
