Chef Elsa
Almjause (Alpine Hut Snack Board)
A wooden board loaded with mountain cheese, juniper-smoked Speck, air-dried Hauswürstel, handmade Liptauer, fresh Kren, and thick-cut Bauernbrot, the way Austrian Almhütten have fed hikers for generations.
Culinary Explorer
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Vorarlberger Käseplatte (Bregenzerwald Cheese Board)
Created by
Three alpine cheeses from the Bregenzerwald arranged on a carved wooden Brettl with dark rye bread, raw honeycomb, walnuts, and seasonal fruit, the way Vorarlberg's mountain dairies have been feeding people for centuries.
Appetizers & Snacks
Austrian
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
30 min
Active Time
0 min cook•30 min total
Yield6 servings
The first time I tasted Vorarlberger Bergkäse properly was on a childhood trip with Gretel and my grandmother Eva. We'd driven west from Salzburg, past Innsbruck, and into Vorarlberg, which feels like a different country entirely. The dialect changes. The architecture changes. The cheese changes most of all. Gretel knew a Sennerei in Andelsbuch where you could buy wheels straight from the aging cellar, and I remember standing in that cool, damp room surrounded by enormous rounds of cheese stacked on spruce shelves, the smell sharp and buttery and alive. Gretel bought a wedge of aged Bergkäse and a piece of Rässkäse so pungent the woman wrapped it in three layers of paper. We ate both on dark bread in the car, and I thought it was the best thing I'd ever tasted.
Vorarlberg is Austria's smallest province but its biggest cheese story. The Bregenzerwald valley runs through the heart of it, and the dairy traditions there are older than most European borders. The farmers still practice Dreistufenwirtschaft, moving their herds up the mountain in stages through the summer: valley floor in spring, middle pastures in early summer, high Alpen at the peak. Each altitude gives the milk a different character, and the cheese made at the top, the true Alpkäse, has a sweetness and depth that valley milk can't produce. You're tasting the wildflowers and grasses of a specific meadow at a specific altitude. That's not poetry. That's biology.
A proper Vorarlberger Käseplatte isn't complicated to assemble, but it asks you to respect three things: the quality of the cheese, the temperature at which you serve it, and the restraint to keep the accompaniments simple. The cheeses are the performance. Everything else on the board is the audience.
Vorarlberger Bergkäse received its Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) from the European Union in 1997, recognizing a cheesemaking tradition documented in the Bregenzerwald since the 14th century. The region's Dreistufenwirtschaft, the three-stage alpine farming system where herds move to progressively higher pastures through summer, was inscribed on Austria's UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The Bregenzerwald Käsestraße, established in 1998, connects over twenty Sennereien and alpine dairies along a route through the valley, making it one of Europe's oldest organized cheese trails.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Vorarlberger Bergkäse (PDO)
Quantity
250g
aged minimum 6 months
Alpkäse or Vorarlberger Alpkäse
Quantity
200g
3-4 months aged
Rässkäse (washed-rind alpine cheese)
Quantity
150g
Sura Kees (Bregenzerwald acid-set cheese) (optional)
Quantity
150g
dark rye bread (Schwarzbrot)
Quantity
1 small loaf
sliced
raw honeycomb or alpine honey
Quantity
100g
walnut halves
Quantity
100g
ripe pears
Quantity
2
Williams or Conference, sliced
grapes
Quantity
small bunch
seasonal
cornichons
Quantity
8-10
unsalted alpine butter
Quantity
generous piece
room temperature
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Vorarlberger Bergkäse (PDO)aged minimum 6 months | 250g |
| Alpkäse or Vorarlberger Alpkäse3-4 months aged | 200g |
| Rässkäse (washed-rind alpine cheese) | 150g |
| Sura Kees (Bregenzerwald acid-set cheese) (optional) | 150g |
| dark rye bread (Schwarzbrot)sliced | 1 small loaf |
| raw honeycomb or alpine honey | 100g |
| walnut halves | 100g |
| ripe pearsWilliams or Conference, sliced | 2 |
| grapesseasonal | small bunch |
| cornichons | 8-10 |
| unsalted alpine butterroom temperature | generous piece |
Equipment Needed
- •Large wooden Brettl or cutting board (40cm or larger)
- •Sharp cheese knife
- •Separate small knife for washed-rind cheese
- •Small earthenware crocks or bowls for honey and cornichons
Instructions
- 1
Temper the cheeses
Take all the cheeses out of the refrigerator a full hour before you plan to serve. Set them on the counter, still wrapped, and leave them alone. Cold cheese tastes like nothing. At fridge temperature, the fat in the cheese is solid and the flavor compounds are locked down. As the cheese warms toward room temperature, the fat softens, the texture changes, and suddenly you can taste what you paid for. This is the single most important step and the one most people skip.
If your kitchen is very warm, forty-five minutes will do. You want the cheese at about 18 degrees Celsius. Touch the surface: it should feel slightly yielding under your finger, not rigid. - 2
Cut each cheese properly
How you cut cheese matters because the flavor develops from rind to center. The Bergkäse is the firmest: cut it into thin, even slices from a wedge so each piece carries a strip of the natural rind. The Alpkäse is slightly softer, so cut it into broader, thinner triangles. The Rässkäse has a sticky, washed rind: cut it into small rectangles so your guests can pick it up cleanly and aren't wrestling with it on the board. If you have Sura Kees, it's crumbly and dry. Break it into rough pieces rather than trying to slice it. Each cheese has a different texture and cutting it correctly is part of treating it with respect.
Use a separate knife for the Rässkäse. Its washed rind has strong bacteria that will transfer flavor to the other cheeses if you use the same blade. - 3
Prepare the accompaniments
Slice the pears lengthwise into thin wedges just before serving. Pears oxidize quickly, so this is not a job you do ahead. If you're using grapes, pull them into small clusters of three or four rather than piling the whole bunch on the board. Arrange the cornichons in a small dish or earthenware crock. Set the honey or honeycomb in a separate small bowl with a drizzle stick. Pile the walnuts loosely. Everything should look generous and natural, not architected.
- 4
Arrange the board
Use a large wooden Brettl, the kind of carved board you'd see at any Vorarlberg Buschenschank. Place the three (or four) cheeses in separate areas of the board with space between them. They should not touch each other. The Bergkäse anchors the board because it's the star and the largest portion. Set the Alpkäse opposite, the Rässkäse to one side. Tuck the fruit, walnuts, and cornichons into the gaps. Place the sliced Schwarzbrot either on the board if it fits or on a separate plate alongside. Set the butter on the board in a small mound or in a crock.
Gretel always said that food should look like someone wanted to feed you, not impress you. Pile things naturally. Let a walnut roll. Let the grapes drape over the edge. This is a mountain farmer's table, not a magazine cover. - 5
Serve with context
Bring the board to the table and tell your guests what they're eating. Not a lecture, just a sentence or two. This is Bergkäse from Vorarlberg, aged six months, nutty and firm. This is Rässkäse, it's pungent, start with a small piece. The Alpkäse was made from summer milk. People eat more adventurously when they know what's in front of them. Serve with a dry Austrian white, a Grüner Veltliner or a Vorarlberger cider if you can find one. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •If you can't find Vorarlberger Bergkäse specifically, look for any PDO Austrian mountain cheese, or a good Swiss Gruyère as a last resort. What you're after is a firm, nutty alpine cheese made from raw milk with at least six months of aging. Supermarket 'Swiss cheese' with holes in it is not this.
- •Rässkäse translates roughly to 'sharp cheese' and the smell will tell you why. Don't let it scare you. The flavor is milder than the aroma suggests, savoury and complex with a creamy paste under that sticky orange rind. Wrap it separately from everything else in your fridge.
- •Sura Kees is almost impossible to find outside Vorarlberg, but if you see it, buy it. It's a fat-free acid-set cheese made from skimmed milk, crumbly and tangy, sometimes rolled in herbs or pepper. It's the oldest cheese in the Bregenzerwald tradition and tastes like nothing else. If you can't find it, don't substitute. Just serve three cheeses instead of four.
- •Honey and aged Bergkäse together is one of those combinations that seems too simple to be extraordinary, but it is. A drizzle of raw alpine honey on a slice of eighteen-month Bergkäse will make you stop talking mid-sentence.
Advance Preparation
- •Buy the cheeses two to three days ahead if possible. Keep them wrapped in wax paper, not cling film. Cling film suffocates cheese and traps moisture against the rind. Wax paper lets it breathe.
- •Walnuts can be lightly toasted in a dry pan the day before and stored in an airtight container. Toasting wakes up their oils and deepens the flavor, which matters next to strong cheese.
- •The Schwarzbrot can be sliced a few hours ahead and covered with a clean cloth. Don't refrigerate it. Cold rye bread turns dense and loses its character.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 330g)
Calories
865 calories
Total Fat
54 g
Saturated Fat
27 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
27 g
Cholesterol
125 mg
Sodium
1135 mg
Total Carbohydrates
58 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
25 g
Protein
40 g
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