Rolf Beeler

Maitre Fromager Rolf Beeler and his Australia/New Zealand importer Tom Merkli[1]

Rolf Beeler is a Swiss affineur known for his raw milk artisan cheeses, which he develops for more than 30 years. He does not make cheese himself but collects terroir-based cheeses from the best small, artisanal cheesemakers,[2] and then ages them to create the final product. Rolf Beeler is regarded as Switzerland’s best maître fromager (cheese ager) and dubbed "The Pope of Cheese" by cheese connoisseurs.[3][4]

Career

Prior to becoming a cheese specialist, Rolf Beeler tried school teaching and even DJing, but his passion for good food prevailed. He opened his own grocery store where he sold only the products he personally liked. He then discovered that he wants to work particularly with cheeses. Beeler sold his store and started to work directly with cheese makers in Switzerland and abroad, including world-renowned French cheesemaker Bernard Antony.[5]

Then, Beeler turned his house basement into small cheese cellar and started to age and ripen his favourite cheeses, which he bought from small local producers. Restaurateurs liked his cheeses, the business went up, and soon there was not enough space to stock all the wheels of cheese at his house.

Then he came up with a new strategy. He now allows the cheese to ripen at the cheese makers cellars and educates them on how to handle the process of ripening. He also visits his cheese makers at least once a week to check the product and discuss the further steps of aging.

After succeeding in production of traditional Swiss cheeses, Rolf started to develop new cheese recipes in collaboration with his fellow cheesemakers. Wine-washed Hoch Ybrig was the first one, and many followed. All new Beeler's cheeses are highly welcomed by cheese lovers and professionals alike.[6][7][8][9]

World distribution

By the end of the nineties, Rolf Beeler decided to expand to the foreign markets and introduced his Sélection Rolf Beeler at the Slow Food Fair “Salone del Gusto” in Turin, Italy in 1998.[10][11] Today his Selection contains eighteen aged raw milk cheeses, and can be found on the menu of more than 120 top restaurants in Germany, England, Switzerland, Scandinavia, USA and Australia.[12]

Awards

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "The Red Cow: Swiss cheese tasting ", Time Out Melbourne, Retrieved on 2013-11-22
  2. ↑ Sue Style "The trend: Swiss cheesemakers", Financial Times, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  3. ↑ Haas, Scott "The Cultural Diversity of Cheese", Gastronomica, Winter 2012, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  4. ↑ "From Arlington to The Alps! Katie Carter Journeys to Switzerland!", Arrowine, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  5. ↑ "Rolf Beeler profile" at The Cheese Course, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  6. ↑ "Hoch Ybrig", Culturecheesemag.com, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  7. ↑ "Bierdeckel", Culturecheesemag.com, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  8. ↑ Janet Fletcher "Cheese course: Napfkäse is not just another Swiss cheese", San Francisco Chronicle, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  9. ↑ "Alp Drackloch by Rolf Beeler", igourmet.com, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  10. ↑ "Rolf Beeler" at Great Ciao, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  11. ↑ "Beeler Napfkäse", Wedge in the Round blog, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  12. ↑ "Sélection Rolf Beeler", Sélection Rolf Beeler, The Red Cow, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  13. ↑ "Gold beim World Cheese Award", Toggenburger Tagblatt, Retrieved on 2013-11-15
  14. ↑ "Swiss Entry Best at World Jersey Cheese Awards", USJersey.com, Retrieved on 2013-11-15

External links

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