Young Gruyere

Young Gruyère is a raw cow's milk Alpine cheese from the town of Gruyères in the Fribourg canton of Switzerland, a recipe that has been made in the same valleys since the 12th century. It carries the AOP designation, which pins the milk, the make, and the cave to that one region.

The paste is firm and dense, a pale straw color that still holds plenty of moisture at this stage. You see it in the way the cheese curls under the shaver instead of cracking, the sign of a fresh wheel that hasn't dried out. On the palate it leads with gentle hazelnut and a soft brown-butter sweetness, with a fresh-cream note still hanging on from the youth of the wheel. There's a quiet pasture pull underneath but none of the sharp savory bite a longer-aged Gruyère develops, and no crystal crunch yet.

This is the friendly end of the Gruyère spectrum, the wheel you reach for when you want the recipe in its sweeter, more approachable form. It melts beautifully, which is why it's been the backbone of fondue and gratin kitchens for centuries, and it eats just as well shaved off the block at room temperature.