In the 15th century, the people living north of the Alps began to use rennet (a substance from the stomach of a cow) to make hard cheeses, much more durable than the cottage cheese. This was the foundation of the Swiss cheese culture. Until the 18th century, this cheese was made only in the summer, because the cows were dry in the winter. This changed in the early 19th century, and the cheese made year-round in the valleys in the mountainous regions is now known as mountain cheese, to distinguish it from Alp cheese, which is still produced only in the summer, from milk which comes from cows that spend the summer up on the Alps. Alp Cheese doesn't refer to a single product, but to a whole range of cheeses. The taste of each cheese is given to of a number of factors, such as the grasses and alpine herbs grazed by the cows, the wood fire used to heat the milk or the particular style of the cheesemaker.
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