Description of Bergkese cheese and varieties, production secrets. Energy value and vitamin and mineral composition, benefits and harms when consumed. Cheese recipes.
Bergkese is an Austrian Alpine hard cheese made from whole, unpasteurized cow's milk. Texture - dense, hard, smooth, with eyes of different sizes, located unevenly; color - light yellow, darker at the edges; aroma - creamy, pronounced; the taste is sweetish-nutty, with hints of toffee and burnt sugar. The crust is natural, dark yellow or ocher, covered with a whitish bloom. The shape of the heads is flattened cylinders with a diameter of 22-40 cm and a height of 12-14 cm. Weight - 8-35 kg. The second name of the variety is Mountain Cheese.
How is Bergkese cheese made?
Interestingly, this variety is still brewed in high-altitude pastures, in shepherd's huts, using the same skills and recipes as hundreds of years ago. Seasonal production - from mid-July. Using raw milk obtained from natural grazing reduces the likelihood of clostridial loading of the final product.
How Bergkese cheese is made:
- Raw milk is collected and defatted to 3, 3-3, 5%, heated to 27 ° C.
- Coagulation is carried out using lactic acid bacteria and rennet. They wait for the kale to form and knead, breaking it into small pieces using a special device resembling a scythe or a huge fan blade.
- Continuing to stir, the intermediate raw material is heated to 51-51 ° C, at 1 ° C per minute, the curd grains are allowed to settle. The curd mass is reheated, maintaining a constant temperature.
- Separation of serum is carried out in several stages. First, the curd mass is transferred with a slotted spoon onto a sparsely woven fabric, then squeezed out and suspended for several hours. The monoliths are tightened into knots and placed under a press for 2-3 days at a constant temperature of 17-18 ° C, constantly changing the position of future heads and increasing the weight of the oppression.
- For salting, the cheese is placed in baths with cool (12 ° C) brine and left for 2-3 days.
- For maturation, cellars or natural caves with a temperature of 12-15 ° C, a humidity of 90-95% and stable ventilation are used.
- Every day, the heads are turned over and wiped with brine, without draining it, in order to accumulate mold cultures that populate the forming crust. That is why the finished cheese is covered with a white coating, reminiscent of flour dust. After 10-14 days, the storage facilities are visited 2 times a week.
How to make Bergkese cheese and what taste to get, cheese makers decide on their own. Some use their own know-how - they add alpine herbs to the brine. You can taste it after 3 months of aging.
All Bergkese options are popular:
| Aging | Peculiarities |
| 3-6 months | Delicate, soft, cheesy taste |
| from 6 months to 2 years | With a nut and toffee flavor |
| from 2 years | Spicy, spicy, sweet and salty |
Heads that have stood for 1 year are popular. The taste is not very salty, the texture is dense, well cut. Long-term cheese delights only amateurs - a bitterness appears, as from burnt sugar, and a pungent aftertaste remains.
Composition and calorie content of Bergkese cheese
Whoever makes a fermented milk product, no GMO ingredients are used. Fat content on dry matter - 34-45%.
The calorie content of Bergkese cheese is 373 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Protein - 28 g;
- Carbohydrates - 0.1 g;
- Fat - 29 g.
Vitamins per 100 g:
- Retinol - 0.33 mg;
- Vitamin D - 0.6 mcg;
- Tocopherol - 0.9 mg;
- Thiamine - 0.04 mg;
- Riboflavin - 0.32 mg;
- Pyridoxine - 0, 11 mg;
- Cyanocobalamin - 2.7 mcg.
Minerals per 100 g:
- Sodium - 1.6 g;
- Iron - 0.3 mg;
- Zinc - 5.1 mg;
- Magnesium - 43 mg;
- Chlorine - 600 mg;
- Potassium - 100 mg;
- Calcium - 1100 mg;
- Phosphorus - 700 mg;
- Copper - 0.2 mg;
- Fluorine - 0.16 mg;
- Iodine - 0.04 mg.
The peculiarity of the composition of Bergkese cheese is the high content of calcium, in comparison with other varieties, the presence of omega-3 fatty acid. This substance cannot be synthesized by the body on its own, and replenishment of the reserve has a beneficial effect on the general condition at the cellular level - cell membranes are strengthened, harmful cholesterol dissolves.
100 g of Bergkese cheese fully meet the daily requirement for calcium and 48% for phosphorus, but you shouldn't eat that amount. The permissible daily dosage is 60-80 g, the high calorie content should be taken into account. Shepherds, who do not descend from the mountains for months, thanks to this variety, fully meet the need for animal protein.
Useful properties of Bergkese cheese
If you eat a small piece of this product in the morning, you can forget about fatigue, work efficiently, and do without artificial stimulants.
Benefits of Bergkese cheese:
- Increases the tone of the body, stabilizes blood pressure, improves memory.
- Strengthens bone and cartilage tissue, accelerates the growth of children and stops the development of rickets, prevents the development of osteoporosis and osteochondrosis in adults. Reduces the frequency of exacerbations of arthritis and arthrosis, gout.
- It has a positive effect on visual function, restores the retina.
- It has anti-inflammatory and immunostimulating effects.
- Normalizes impulse conduction, helps to recover from stress, stops depression, stimulates the production of serotonin, a hormone that improves mood.
- Accelerates the regeneration of epithelial tissues, has a healing effect.
- Slows down age-related changes, increases the production of collagen and elastin, and stops fluid loss.
- Regular introduction into the diet reduces the incidence of atherosclerosis, increases the life cycle of hepatocytes - liver cells.
The particular benefit of Bergkese cheese for men is that it improves reproductive function and stamina. Helps to relax in states requiring nervous tension, to concentrate and make the right decision, to recover from a hangover syndrome.
Contraindications and harm to Bergkese cheese
The calorie content of a farm product, if the feedstock was not defatted during manufacture, can reach up to 407 kcal. But even if all processes are observed, the fat content is increased. Therefore, abuse should be avoided, not only if necessary to control their own weight, but also in chronic diseases - hepatitis, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, liver dysfunction and gallbladder hyperfunction.
Due to the increased salinity, Bergkese cheese can cause harm in people with kidney disease, urolithiasis or decreased urination, with gout and arthritis.
During pregnancy, acquaintance with a new taste should be postponed - the raw material is raw milk, which means that the risk of contracting listeriosis or salmonellosis remains. For the same reason, the variety is carefully introduced into the diet of preschoolers. These categories should eat cheese after being cooked.
During fermentation, not only all the nutrients are preserved, but also the milk protein. Lactase deficiency is a contraindication to use.
Although the crust is natural, it should be cut off. It is on it that molds grow. If they enter the stomach, dysbiosis and eating disorders can develop.
Bergkese cheese recipes
This variety is usually combined with white nutmeg wine, pears, freshly baked bread or nuts. It can be used as an ingredient in cheese sauces, casseroles, and baked goods.
A little secret of serving on a cheese plate: hold for 30 minutes at room temperature, without unrolling, and then cut and leave for another 15 minutes, again covering with cling film. If this is not done, the pieces will quickly wind up, and you will not be able to enjoy the original taste.
Bergkese cheese recipes:
- Seasoning for pasta … 200 g of spaghetti are dipped into boiling water, boiled until tender, thrown back in a colander. In a blender bowl, beat 3 eggs, chopped greens - half a medium bunch of dill, parsley, green onions, add 80 g of grated cheese and add mayonnaise. Lubricate the refractory mold with butter, spread the paste, pour in the egg mixture and bake in the oven at 200 ° C until a golden brown crust appears. Served with sour cream or tomato.
- Stuffed potatoes … Peel large, even tubers, cut into 2 parts, remove the middle to make thick-walled cups. Fry them in sunflower oil until cooked, but so that they do not break, that is, remain solid. The middles are boiled in salted water, and while they are cooking, bacon cubes and chopped onions are fried. Put the cold cuts first, and the onions when the fat is already melted. Mix the frying with boiled crushed potatoes and grated Bergkese, add some salt, add red pepper. The cups are filled with the filling, each is covered with a plate of cheese and baked in the oven at a temperature of 180 ° C. As soon as the cap melts, you can help yourself.
- Splenze … Cheese, 300 g, rub on a fine grater, cut 2 large onions into rings. Knead the dough: pour 2 cups of flour into a bowl, drive in 5 eggs and pour in 75 ml of cold mineral water, add salt. The dough should be viscous and moderately sticky. Knead until bubbles appear, add flour so that you can already cut short wide noodles. Bring water to a boil, pour a splint into it, spread a paper towel. After 12-15 minutes, scoop up the boiled noodles with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper to dry. Grease the mold with butter and lay out the splinter and cheese in layers - the more there are, the tastier it will turn out. The last layer is poured with melted butter and sprinkled with Bergkese. Bake for 20-25 minutes in an oven preheated to 180-200 ° C. While everything is being prepared, fry the onions separately until golden brown. Fried onion rings are laid out on the finished dish, and then fresh herbs - parsley and green onions. Serve hot on a common plate.
- Vienna waffles … Butter, 150-170 g, without melting, grind with 2 tbsp. l. regular sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla. You can add some cinnamon. Drive in 3 eggs and pour in slightly warmed (to body temperature) milk, 1 glass. Mix 200 g of sifted wheat flour with 1 tsp. baking powder, knead the dough. The filling is made separately: smoked ham, cut into small pieces, are mixed with 150 g of grated Bergkese and herbs - to taste. Preheat a frying pan, grease with sunflower oil and form pancakes, frying on both sides. If there is a waffle maker, it is best to use it. Place the filling between the waffles and serve them hot.
See also recipes for dishes with Brenne d'Amour cheese.
Interesting facts about Bergkese cheese
This variety cannot be called "ancient", but it is almost 200 years old. Shepherds grazing cows in alpine pastures first cooked it in the summer of 1841. At that time, tasting began after 3 months of ripening and the batch was lowered into the villages after 6 months, when the herds went home. Later, the heads were left in caves, where they matured and acquired a spicy, pungent taste.
Now cheese can be purchased only in Bregenzerwald (Schwarzenberg), in the Groswalsertal valley, Mittelberg and other communes and small farms in Vorarlberg, at cheese fairs or from private producers. Bergkese is not supplied not only for export, but also in the stores of the country. The lots are small, the variety does not yet have any certificates - it is protected only at the place of origin (category PDO). Therefore, the taste of heads purchased from different manufacturers may differ.
This variety is not only one of the main food products of the region, it plays a huge role in its development. Since May 1998, the producers have joined forces and created a tourist route, during which they show the beauty of the area, invite you on excursions to cheese dairies, where you can not only see, but also take part in the production of Bergkese cheese.
Such activities contribute to the development of the transport infrastructure of the region, replenishment of the budget and preservation of the landscape. Thanks to the influx of tourists and the interest in cheese making, there is no need to cut down forests and occupy pastures with various enterprises that can destroy natural resources and worsen the ecological situation.
