Sap Sago

What is Sap Sago Cheese?

Sap Sago, known in Switzerland as Schabziger, comes from the Canton of Glarus. Ziger is said to have been made on the Glarus alps since the 8th century. After the Glarnerland came under the abbey of Säckingen in the Middle Ages, much of the tribute was paid in ziger, and the canonesses seasoned it with strongly scented blue fenugreek that crusaders had brought back from the Orient.

In 1463 the Glarner Landsgemeinde required every producer in the canton to work to quality rules and mark the cheese with an origin stamp, as protection against imitation. Since 2003 only one company, Geska AG, still makes it.

Production starts with skimmed cow's milk heated above 90 °C and set with a lactic acid culture. The separated curd ferments four to twelve weeks in perforated tubs or in sacks weighted with stones. It is then ground, salted and held three to eight months in silos. Only after that is powdered blue fenugreek mixed in and the mass pressed into shape. The stöckli is taken out after six to eight days and dried on a rack for two to six months.

The common shape is a conical stöckli of 100 g, which is also the version sold abroad. The cheese is hard and green, salty, with 33 g of protein and 0.5 g of fat per 100 g, no lactose and no carbohydrates.

It is not eaten in pieces like most cheeses. Cooks shave or grate it to season food, which is where Zigerhörnli (pasta with ziger), Zigerfondue and Zigerbrüt (buttered bread with ziger) come from. Shops sell the classic stöckli, tubs of Ankeziger already blended with butter for spreading, and ready-grated cheese. A stöckli keeps for several weeks in the fridge, while Ankeziger is best eaten within a few days.