In the valley of Pays-d’Enhaut, around a hundred family-run cheese dairies are proud to continue a centuries-old tradition: producing L’Etivaz.

The L’Etivaz journey begins with the deliciously flowery grass that cows eat all summer long in the mountain pastures: it is this aromatic bouquet, which varies according to altitude (between 1000 and 2000 m), that gives the milk its unique flavour.
 
Every summer morning after milking, the unpasteurised milk is heated over a wood fire in a copper cauldron, curdled, moulded, then pressed and bathed in brine. In the maturing cellar, the wheels are salted and brushed, gradually forming a smear layer.

Thanks to this natural rind, the cheese develops finesse and fruity aromas which, combined with a subtle smokiness imparted by the wood fire, are certain to delight the palates of connoisseurs.

L’Etivaz was the first Swiss cheese to appear in the country’s register of designations of origin and is today the only PDO cheese in the world to be made over an open fire.