Emmental is made from cow’s milk and belongs to the cooked, pressed cheese category. Ripening takes minimally 10 weeks.
Emmental is part of the Gruyère cheese family. It has been known since the Roman times.
Emmental is made with very fresh milk. Resting in cellars with strictly prescribed temperature and humidity conditions, the cheese is regularly salted and turned. A few weeks after being made, the cheese is taken to specially designed cellars, which reproduce optimal maturing conditions: the air is warm and damp, full of carbon, ammonia and salt. At this stage, natural bacteria in the mass of cheese transform oxygen into carbon dioxide which in turn produces bubbles of gas.
If the paste is sufficiently supple and elastic, the gas forms round cavities, which constitute the 'eyes' of the cheese.
The flavor is sweet and characteristic of mountain cheeses. The paste is firm and pale yellow with walnut size holes.