If you are looking for an interesting activity to do with family and friends at the weekend, then a trip to La Maison du Gruyère may be just what you had in mind.
Every Sunday between the 21 December 2014 and 29 March 2015, this popular cheese-making dairy (fromagerie) in Pringy, famous for producing Gruyère AOP, will demonstrate how cheese can be made using a wood-burning fire located within one of its outbulidings, the Chalet de la Confrérie. The public will have a chance to see all steps in the production process, right from the moment milk is poured into a cauldron, through to its final transformation into cheese more than two hours later.
Taking place between 12h30 and 15h00, the free demonstration will also provide visitors, both young and old, with a wonderful opportunity to taste “le petit lait”, “le cailler”, and the delicious Gruyère AOP cheese in its most popular forms: doux, mi-salé and salé. In very cold weather conditions, the cheese-making process may not be able to take place, so you are advised to ring the dairy before leaving home to check.
In addition to this seasonal demonstration, visitors are welcome to pay to visit the dairy’s permanent exhibition entitled “A journey to the heart of the senses”. Using headphones to guide you through the various stages of the tour, the exhibition makes full use of all your senses to help you understand in a fun, interactive way, how cheese-making has evolved over the years.
Whilst some visitors may complete the tour in around 30 minutes, others will want to linger and watch the cheese-making process as it unfolds before their eyes in the viewing gallery that overlooks the production area. Depending on the time of year, the dairy may complete 3 or 4 complete cycles of cheese-making in a day, each lasting around 2 and a half hours and taking place between 9h and 11h and between 12h30 and 14h30. A detailed production schedule can be found on the factory website by clicking here.
No visit to the Maison du Gruyère would be complete without a visit to the restaurant, which offers a delicious array of traditional local dishes, many of them incorporating the Gruyère AOP produced at the dairy. Click here to see the full menu, which includes everything from light salads and cheesy soups to more substantial quiches, macaroni dishes and fondues.
If the weather is good, then children will be keen to take advantage of the dairy’s new outdoor play area, built in the summer along the theme of a cow, with a tail that allows you to climb on the back of the animal, and a tongue that allows you to slide off it!
For the more adventurous, there is also the possibility to explore the local pastures on foot, with 2 intineraries proposed each lasting around 2 hours and linking La Maison de Gruyère with a second dairy in Moléson village further up the mountain. Whilst this hike provides a wonderful opportunity to breathe in the fresh mountain air, it may be appreciated more in the summer when the cows can be seen out in the fields enjoying the lush green grass! Click here to download the flyer for more information.
La Maison de la Gruyère,
Place de la Gare 3
CH 1663
Pringy-Gruyères
026 921 84 00
www.lamaisondugruyere.ch
Open every day – last entry 30 minutes before closing
June to October: 9h to 19h
October to May: 9h to 18h
Entry to La Maison du Gruyère dairy:
Adults: CHF 7.-
Students / Seniors: CHF 6.-
Family pass (2 adults and 2 children under 12): CHF 12.-
