Save the date 10-12 november 2023

Stockholm food & Wine and Bake & Chocolate Fair

Here I am back again at Älvsjö exhibition hall, participating in the local food and wine exhibition.

The weekend is a very popular exhibition featuring 258 food, equipment, wine, chocolate and baking stalls, many of the exhibition participates hover between the professional and consumer markets, with-in these areas the consumers and consumer market have over the past decade become very passionate and competitive. The exhibition also features many wine and spirit tasting opportunities and a big focus on champagne, it’s as close as we get to a big day out in Stockholm.

There is an ever-increasing interest in our profession as chefs, and with-in the food and beverage industries. I always say that at least 10% of the general population have at some period of their life worked within our industry, so there are many who pass by our stall who have a great deal of knowledge in what we are serving. When we as professionals are deep in our focus driven jobs, we often forget that some of our guests have more knowledge about what is served than the chef or the waiter who are engaged in your meal.

There is also an insatiable Interest in kiting out the home kitchen with semi-professional equipment, everyone is a master chef competitor on the weekends. This fair enables customers to interact with the salespersons and get up close and be hands on with all from the newest micro planner to the latest Paco jet.
One negative about working at such a fair is that you don’t get the time to look at what the other stalls are doing or showing, just fleeting glances.

 

Black label Appenzeller "extra" as it looks in the supermarket or cheese shop.

Appenzeller, "the star"

I was back on the Swiss cheese stand, featuring Appenzeller and Gruyère two iconic Swiss cheese. Both cheeses are extremely well known and are very strong stand-alone brands. They are so well established in the Swedish market that they just sell themselves. Gruyère is strongly connected as a sponsor for winter sports so its popularity stretches throughout the country.

During the three-day exhibition we literally had thousands of visitors at our stand, all had their own relationship to the cheeses, they were almost like cheese groupies, if there can be such a person.

During the fair I worked predominantly with promoting Appenzeller, so here’s the spiel.

Appenzeller is a hard, washed rind cheese from the Cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden & Ausserrhoden in eastern Switzerland. Appenzeller cheese has about 700 years of documented history and local tradition behind it. The cheese truckles are of a standard size of 6,5k-7kg, Appenzeller cheese of this size contains milk curds from 80 litres of local unpasteurised milk. The milk is delivered to the dairies by the farmers themselves, it must be delivered in small milk cans with a regulation maximum transport limit of 20 km to the dairy. After moulding and shaping the cheese is dipped into a secret herbal brine containing local meadow herbs & flowers wine or cider, this process ensures the flavour and pungency that gives Appenzeller its unique and desired characteristics. Each cheese is hand washed during the maturation process thus promoting and helping preserve the cheese and the formation of the rind.

Appenzeller is sold in three varieties.

Classic, aged 3-4 months (silver label)

Surchoix, aged 4-6 months (gold label)

Extra, aged 6-8 months (black label)

Extra würtzig, aged 9 months (purple label)

Appenzeller extra is a straw-coloured full flavour cheese with a concentrated creamy taste and a long after taste. Wine experts recommend both red and white wine as compliments but after eating it constantly for three days I feel I would rather drink white wine probably a Riesling or local Swiss white wine with it.

If I was going to serve it on a cheese board or similar, I would ensure that there were fresh chilled pears serve with it. Served within a hot dish Appenzeller should be the star make it simple, so you don’t confuse Appenzeller’s exquisite taste.

Go for it, you won’t be disappointed.

flags The proof is in the tasting
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