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Tiroler Graukäse

Acid-curd cheese made from Tyrolean cow's milk, raw or pasteurised, usually low-fat milk, with no added rennet, only lactic acid precipitation.

Appearance: some mould veins, surface ripening (from outside inwards), sometimes mould on the surface, added salt and/or pepper.

Form: small loaves or bars from 1 to about 4 kg.

External appearance: thin, bluish-grey to green-grey rind with slight map-like cracks.

Internal appearance: Colour from outside inwards grey to grey-green, marbled or with white centre; consistency at edges rather dry, when mature yellow and fatty towards the inside.

Taste: tartish, spicy to sharp.

Graukäse has a character specific to parts of the Tyrol: in the Upper Inn Valley it is fatty and

well-matured, in the Lower Inn Valley it is curd-like and matures very slowly.

Tiroler Graukäse may only be made by authorised producers/processors as part of farm milk processing in the Austrian Bundesland of Tyrol (North Tyrol/East Tyrol).

The milk is curdled by acidification and not by rennet. Maturation is from outside inwards, the consistency being usually somewhat dry at the edges; when mature the cheese is fatty towards the inside with a few unmatured pieces of curd.