Glarner Schabziger

It is obtained from cow's milk, or more precisely, from skimmed milk at 90°C by acid precipitation. After a fermentation period of four to twelve weeks, the matured Ziger is ground up, salted and stored in silos for three to eight months. Only then is powdered blue fenugreek added and the Schabziger pressed into its typical shape.

The Glarus Schabziger looks back on more than a thousand years of history. From the 8th century until 1395, the Glarus region was owned by the Säckingen monastery. Until now, it was believed that one of the taxes that the people of Glarus had to pay at that time was Rohziger. The Säckingen nuns had seasoned and sold it with horned clover, a strongly fragrant herb from their own monastery garden, which had probably been brought by crusaders from Asia Minor. Recent findings question this.

What is certain, however, is that a law was passed at the Landsgemeinde of 1463 that obliged all Ziger producers to produce the Ziger according to quality specifications and to mark it with a stamp of origin. In doing so, they made the Glarus Schabziger the first branded product in Switzerland, if not in the world!

Schabziger is not eaten "in one piece" like most cheeses, but is mainly used grated to season dishes. These then appear, for example, as Zigerhörnli, Zigerfondue or Zigerbrüt at the family table, in cookbooks and on menus.

As products for sale, there are the classic Schabzigerstöckli, from which the desired amount is scraped off via a mill or with a knife, as well as cups with Ankeziger, in which the Ziger is already mixed with butter and can thus be spread directly on bread. New Ziger products are constantly being added.

Long after the Second World War, the Schabziger was still sold in many places in Switzerland by the Zigermandli directly at the front door. Today, Glarner Schabziger is available in retail stores in 50 countries. The Glarus Schabziger is produced at GESKA in Glarus. GESKA offers guided tours of its production facility. www.schabziger.ch