A creative visionary turns his dreams into a delicious mountain cheese
Michael Hanke is making things happen. Growing up in a cheesemaking family in the Allgau district of southern Germany, he went on to work in a range of different cheesemaking businesses, from small to large, before moving to Switzerland to make his own way in the cheese world. In 2016, he completely rebuilt a then 165-year-old dairy in the village of Combremont-le-Petit in Western Switzerland. Not far off the road from Bern to Lausanne, the village is at about 2000 feet above sea level—a relative “lowland” in the mountainous terrain of Switzerland—with a population of only about 300. If you happen to find yourself in the vicinity, the local trails and hiking paths are said to be pretty spectacular.
All the milk Michael Hanke uses for the cheesemaking comes from producers within a couple of miles of the dairy—13 cow farms and, for this cheese, two goat farms. Everything in Hanke’s dairy has been modernized for 21st-century sanitation, but the practices are all about artisan handwork. He crafts traditional Gruyere to pay his way, but then works with smaller production offerings to practice his art—this Geiss (aka, “goat”) is one of half a dozen delicious artisan cheeses he makes. As Hanke shares, “Daring to try new things and experimenting; that’s what makes the profession of cheesemaker interesting for me.”
Our long-time importer, Joe Salonia from the Gourmino cheesemakers’ collaborative, shares a bit of the backstory:
Serg is the main dairy farmer for Michael Hanke’s goat’s milk in Vaud. Michael only wants the best of the best and Serg is the Willy Wonka of the goat dairy farmers—there are not many goat farmers in Switzerland. Serg is fanatical about keeping track of his herd and introducing new genetics on a regular basis to keep the herd healthy. He does not dehorn his herd (many lady goats are born without growing horns). He has an app to keep track and to take care of each and every goat with names, habits, and eating schedules. Our allocation for goat milk is small—there is high demand for Serg’s high quality and this winds up keeping the price high and production low, but that is part of what makes it special and hard to get.
Gourmino Geiss is a semi-firm, washed rind cheese made to be eaten at a younger age than many of the much older and better-known Swiss mountain cheeses. Unlike the firmness of Gruyere, Emmental, or Appenzell, the Geiss is more akin to a French Morbier or St. Nectaire in texture. It’s got a lovely, almost sweet flavor with hints of herbs—Michael Hanke says it’s like lavender. I like the Geiss with fresh fruit or crumbled onto green salads. It’s great in grilled cheese sandwiches (try it with True North bread). It also pairs well with the Bakehouse’s Country Miche and Dinkelbrot, especially when the bread is spread with some wonderful Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter. The complex, creamy gentle flavor of the butter balances beautifully with the feistiness of the Geiss Kase.
