Last year, when the political situation in the world changed and the war started, it also affected the food production industry. And not only with price increases, import and export restrictions and other nuances. Someone louder, someone more inconspicuous, but removed or replaced the word “Russia” from the name of certain products. Some time has passed, and it is no longer a surprise to see Tilzīte cheese at the store’s dairy product stand. However, was it correct to simply change the name?
This time, a little insight into where the roots of Tilzite cheese can be found, how it differs from the Russian cheese, after which it has now been renamed again, and why changing the name is apparently so easy.
Born in East Prussia, taken to Europe and returned to Latvia
As the name itself suggests, Tilsiter cheese originated in the Kingdom of Prussia, in the East Prussian city of Tilsiter on the Tilzh River (in the present-day Sovetsk region of Kaliningrad) in the 1820s, thanks to a cheesemaker Mrs. Westphal in the vicinity of Birjole Manor. It is a ripened semi-hard cheese made from unpasteurized or pasteurized cow’s milk.
