Baby Swiss is an American cheese

American cheese

American cheese is a processed cheese. It is orange, yellow, or white in color and mild in flavor, with a medium-firm consistency, and melts easily. American cheese was originally only white, but is usually now modified to yellow. In the past it was made from a blend of cheeses, most often Colby...

 closely related to traditional Swiss cheese

Swiss cheese

Swiss cheese is a generic name in North America for several related varieties of cheese which resemble the Swiss Emmental. Some types of Swiss cheese have a distinctive appearance, as the blocks of the cheese are riddled with holes known as "eyes". Swiss cheese has a piquant, but not very sharp,...

, the generic name for the family of holey cheeses popular all around the world. What sets Baby Swiss apart from its close relative is its mild taste and smooth, creamy texture. It has smaller "eyes" (the holes in Swiss cheese).

Baby Swiss cheese originated in the mid 1960s outside of Charm, Ohio

Charm, Ohio

Charm is an unincorporated community in northwestern Clark Township, Holmes County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 44617. It lies along State Route 557.-References:...

, and was invented by cheese connoisseur Alfred Guggisberg, an alumnus of the Swiss Federal “Molkereishulle” (cheese maker’s institute). The name Baby Swiss was coined by Alfred’s wife, Margaret Guggisberg, who thought that in comparison to the larger wheels of traditional Swiss cheese, when placed side by side, the new cheese looked like a baby.

Swiss cheeses are formed and flavored through the breaking down of lactic acid

Lactic acid

Lactic acid, also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in various biochemical processes and was first isolated in 1780 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. Lactic acid is a carboxylic acid with the chemical formula C3H6O3...

 by bacteria

Bacteria

Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

, which generate carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

 bubbles in the cheese as it ages. One of the key differences when it comes to making Baby Swiss, as opposed to traditional Swiss, is that it is aged only for a matter of weeks, whereas old-fashioned Swiss is typically aged for months, time varying depending on the desired sharpness of the cheese.

Baby Swiss is most commonly enjoyed in the United States, but can also be found in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Most common uses include snacking, slicing for sandwiches, and melting for fondue

Fondue

Fondue is a Swiss dish of melted cheese served in a communal pot over a spirit lamp , and eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese...

. Locals of the area where Baby Swiss originated also commonly pair it with Trail Bologna, another local staple.

External links

• "Guggisberg Location : Guggisberg Cheese." Guggisberg Cheese located in the Heart of Amish Country, across the street from Chalet in the Valley. 19 Feb. 2009 .