Willi Schmid: The World-Champion Cheese from Toggenburg and How It Ends Up in Your Fondue

Some people talk about good cheese. And then there is Willi Schmid, who says he thinks like a cheese. If this is the first time you have heard of this quiet man from Toggenburg, it might sound a little peculiar. Once you have tasted his Jersey Blue, you understand.

To many, Willi Schmid is the uncrowned king of Swiss cheesemakers. His small dairy, the Städtlichäsi, sits in Lichtensteig, one of the loveliest little towns in Toggenburg and barely half an hour by car from our two apartments in the SutterSport building in Alt St. Johann. From here his cheese travels to the finest tables in the world. Top chefs such as Andreas Caminada and Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park in New York speak openly of their admiration for his work. And yet the man himself stays grounded, almost shy. We rather like that.

The lovely part is that you don’t have to travel far for this world-class cheese. From Louisa’s Loft at Hauptstrasse 36 in Alt St. Johann it is only a few minutes down the valley by car or by post bus, the bus stop is right on the doorstep, just two minutes away, and off you go through Toggenburg towards Lichtensteig. We like to think of a cheese outing like this as the perfect way to start the day: a leisurely breakfast in the apartment first, then out to the region’s little dairies, and back up into the mountains in the evening. That is just how close you are when you stay with us.

Why his cheese tastes different

Willi Schmid grew up on his parents’ farm in neighbouring Nesslau. He had really wanted to become a farmer, but the farm was not available to him, so he became a cheesemaker instead. In 2006 he set up on his own with his wife Bea and, so the story goes, invented a good dozen new kinds of cheese in the very first weeks. Today his dairy turns out specialities made from cow, sheep, goat and even buffalo milk.

What makes his cheese so special is neither a machine nor a secret recipe, but his almost tender knowledge of the landscape. Willi Schmid knows which meadows catch enough sun, where the clover grows, and in which shaded little valleys the wild herbs stand. It is said he has tasted every plant his cows eat himself. Those herbs and flowers find their way into the milk, and the milk finds its way into the cheese. So his wheels taste of exactly the region you will be walking through while you stay with us.

He made his name with the Jersey Blue, a creamy blue cheese made from the milk of Jersey cows. His cheeses, the Jersey Blue and the Mühlestein among them, have picked up several world-champion and top awards at international competitions and at the Swiss Cheese Award. Anyone planning a small cheese tasting at home will find a whole journey of flavour in his range, from mild fresh cheese to a robust blue.

Photo: Willi Schmid

Toggenburg: a true Cheese Valley

Willi Schmid is an exceptional talent, but he is not a one-off. Toggenburg is one of Switzerland’s great, quiet cheese regions. More than two hundred varieties are said to be made here, from traditional Alpine cheese through semi-hard and soft cheeses to modern specialities. In the village dairies and up on the alps, milk from the surrounding farms is transformed by hand into something greater.

One speciality belongs here and nowhere else: Bloderchäs, a tangy sour-milk cheese which, under its protected designation of origin (AOP), may only be made in Toggenburg, in Werdenberg and in Liechtenstein. Together with the wider Eastern Swiss cheese tradition around St. Gallen, this makes for a corner of Switzerland you might quite fairly call a “Cheese Valley”, only without the crowds you find in neighbouring Appenzell. That is exactly what we mean when we talk about “Hidden Switzerland”: the same depth, the same craftsmanship, but more peace and quiet in which to enjoy it.

Photo: Willi Schmid

A fondue evening in your holiday apartment

And now for the best part. Cheese from Toggenburg does not just belong in the shop window, it belongs in the caquelon. A fondue made with local cheese is, in our view, the finest way to round off a day’s walking: the cool mountain air outside, the steaming pot inside, and that deep, herby flavour no factory on earth can imitate.

Both our apartments, Louisa’s Loft and Louisa’s Gallery, have a fully equipped kitchen, so all you need to bring is cheese, bread and good company. The village shop is just two minutes from our door, and at the cheese counters in the village shops and dairies nearby you will find Toggenburg varieties that make up a wonderful fondue mix; simply ask for a regional blend, and they will advise you with real warmth. If you would rather take it slowly, buy a few pieces in the afternoon for a small tasting and let the evening wind down with a glass of Eastern Swiss wine and a view of the Churfirsten.

For us, Slow Travel means exactly this: not seeing as much as possible, but tasting the real thing. And when you stay with us in the SutterSport building, the world-champion cheese is quite literally just around the corner. We would love to share the quiet, good addresses of the region with you, so do come hungry.