{{Short description|East Prussian semi-hard cheese}} {{Infobox Cheese | name = Tilsit | image = 250px|Tilsiter cheese | othernames = Tilsit cheese, Tilsiter cheese | country = Kingdom of Prussia/German Empire | region = East Prussia (today's Kaliningrad Oblast) | town = Tilsit (today's Sovetsk) | source = | pasteurised = | texture = semi-hard | fat = | protein = | dimensions = | weight = | aging = | certification = ''Holsteiner Tilsiter'' '''PGI''' (Dec. 2013)<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/registeredName.html?denominationId=2404 DOOR European Certification Database entry] (accessed Jul. 2014)</ref> }}
'''Tilsit cheese''' or '''Tilsiter cheese''' is a pale yellow semihard smear-ripened<ref>Fox, Patrick. ''Cheese: Chemistry, Physics and Microbiology''. p. 200.</ref> cheese, created in the mid-19th century by Prussian-Swiss settlers, the Westphal family, from the Emmental valley. The original buildings from the cheese plant still exist in Sovetsk, Russia, formerly Tilsit, on the Neman River, in the former German province of East Prussia.<ref name="Westphal"> {{cite book | last = Westphal | first = Henriette | title = Tilsiter, Unser Haus | year = 1887 }} </ref>
The same ingredients to make the cheese were not available as in their home country, and the cheese became colonized by different moulds, yeasts, and bacteria in the humid climate. The result was a cheese that was more intense and full-flavoured. The settlers named the cheese after Tilsit, the town where they had settled.<ref name="Westphal"/>
Tilsiter has a medium-firm texture with irregular holes or cracks. Commercially produced Tilsiter is made from pasteurized cow's milk, ranges from 30 to 60% milk fat,<ref>[http://www.codexalimentarius.net/download/standards/196/CXS_270e.pdf "Codex International Individual Standard For Tilsiter"]</ref> and has a dark yellow rind. After the main part of its production, the cheese needs to rest for an additional two months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.holzhof.ch/html/die_geschichte_des_holzhofs.html|title=Die Geschichte des Holzhofs|work=holzhof.ch|access-date=11 February 2015|archive-date=6 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206082921/http://www.holzhof.ch/html/die_geschichte_des_holzhofs.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Often flavoured with caraway seed and peppercorns, Tilsiter is a complement to hearty brown and rye breads and dark beers. It is a common table cheese, yet versatile. Tilsit can be eaten cubed in salads, melted in sauces, on potatoes, in flans, or on burgers.
Using the reimported recipe, Tilsiter has been manufactured in Switzerland since 1893 and in Germany since 1920, where it is known as the protected brand ''Holsteiner Tilsiter''. Swiss Tilsiter is mainly produced in three varieties. A mild version (green label) is made from pasteurised milk, a more strongly flavoured one from fresh, unpasteurized milk (red label), and the yellow-labeled "Rahm-Tilsiter" is produced from pasteurized milk with added cream.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tilsiter.ch/|title=Startseite – Tilsiter Switzerland|work=tilsiter.ch|access-date=11 February 2015}}</ref>
After World War II, when Tilsit and the rest of northern East Prussia became the Soviet Kaliningrad Oblast district, Tilsiter-style cheeses were produced in Switzerland and Germany.
Tilsit cheese is now also made in Austria, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine, and is marketed in the U.S.
== See also == * Culinary Heritage of Switzerland * Havarti * List of cheeses
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{Kulinarischeserbe.ch|137}}
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Category:German cheeses Category:Swiss cheeses Category:Cow's-milk cheeses Category:East Prussian cuisine Category:Culinary Heritage of Switzerland Category:Smear-ripened cheeses