Royalp Tilsit
Royalp is the export name for Swiss Tilsiter, a semi-hard cow's milk cheese with a red-smear rind made in eastern Switzerland since 1893. The pale yellow paste is supple and moist, and the taste runs from mild and lightly spicy to sharply piquant.
Key Facts
| Country of Origin | Switzerland |
| Specific Origin | Eastern Switzerland |
| Milk Type | Cow's milk |
| Milk Treatment | Pasteurized or unpasteurized |
| Fat Content | 30 - 60% |
| Rind | Washed |
| Texture | Semi-hard, smear-ripened |
| Flavor | Creamy, mild, piquant, spicy |
| Aroma | Strong |
| Colors | Pale yellow |
| Forms | Flat round wheels about 8 cm high, 25 to 30 cm across, 4.0 to 4.5 kg |
| Age | About six months |
| Alternative Spellings | Tylżycki (Polish), Тильзитер (Russian) |
| Also Known As | Tilsit, Danish Tilsit, Tilsit Havarti, Tilsiter, Swiss Tilsit |
What is Royalp Tilsit Cheese?
Tilsiter takes its name from Tilsit in East Prussia, today Sovetsk. The recipe grew out of improvements made by Dutch Mennonites, Salzburgers and Swiss immigrants who settled the depopulated north of East Prussia in the first half of the 18th century. Two cheesemakers from eastern Switzerland brought the method home from a trip there in 1890, and Swiss production started in 1893.
The cheese is made from raw milk or pasteurized milk, and the raw milk version usually tastes a few shades fuller. Ripening runs about six months, during which the thin brownish rind is rubbed with brine and red-smear cultures. Swiss producers define several grades: Mittelreif ripens 70 to 110 days, Surchoix 120 to 180 days, the pasteurized Past-Tilsiter 30 to 60 days, and the cream-enriched Rahm-Tilsiter 30 to 75 days. Fat content is at least 45 percent in dry matter, or 55 percent for the cream versions.
The pale yellow paste is supple, very elastic and fairly moist, with holes the size of barley grains and small slits. Flavor ranges from mild and lightly spicy to strongly piquant. The Swiss version is less holey than the German or Danish cheeses and much less sharp. Wheels are flat and round, roughly 8 cm high, 25 to 30 cm across, and weigh about 4.0 to 4.5 kg. Alongside the classic wheel, block form is now common.
Twenty dairies make it, mostly in the cantons of Thurgau and St. Gallen and in the Zürcher Oberland, and output reached 2,740 tonnes in 2018. Since 1999 sales run under the protected brand name Tilsiter Switzerland. Unlike the Swiss cheese, Holsteiner Tilsiter carries a protected geographical indication, granted in 2013.
How Does Royalp Tilsit Cheese Compare?
The most relevant cheeses to compare Royalp Tilsit against.
