A journey across a high mountain pass to visit our Valais alpage Raclette maker. Once in the village we turned and went high up the mountain on a narrow track, a low mist enveloped the alp as we progressed so there was no opportunity to see the views beyond a distance of 20m. It was wonderful to meet the talented young woman cheesemaker from France who was three months into her first season on the alp. With her workdays starting at 3:30am and finishing around 10pm, the summer on the alp is a period of intense work. Since all the cheese was being matured on the alp, the cellar was becoming very full and added to the days duties. When we arrived around 11am the second cheesemaking process was still underway with the making of a ricotta-like “Sérac” which was ladled into small moulds.

The visit was concluded by a wonderful meal of excellent raclette down in the valley below with the farmer’s family, and much cheese discussion.

Contributor

Rachael Sills

Thanks to Francis Guigoz for taking us up the mountain. And spending time talking about the work of Alpine cheesemaking.