The cheeses made in and around Rheinhessen: the protected names first, then the local cheeses people actually eat, with their milk, rind, ageing and taste.

The cheeses of Rheinhessen

Handkäse

OtherWashed rindAlso Handkäs

A small round sour-milk cheese of low-fat quark, broken up with baking soda and salt and shaped into small loaves, once by hand, which gave it its name, and now by machine. The loaves ripen in a warm, humid sweating room and are sprayed with brine, in some kinds one carrying red-smear cultures; unlike Mainzer Käse it can also be made as a white-mould cheese. It is popular in Rheinhessen, above all in Mainz, and is traditionally served as Handkäs mit Musik, marinated in onions, vinegar and oil. Only the name Hessischer Handkäse is protected, as a PGI for cheese made and packed in Hesse.

Taste: Mild with a white core when young, more aromatic and then strongly flavoured as it ripens; fully ripe cheese has no white core, and overripe cheese turns translucent and ammoniac. Lean: under 1% fat and about 25% protein. Sold with or without caraway.

Ageing: About 2 days in a sweating room at 25 to 28 °C; some kinds are then sprayed with red-smear brine and ripened about 2 more days

Made in: Associated above all with the Rhine-Main area and neighbouring parts of Hesse, Rheinhessen (above all Mainz) and the Palatinate. The PGI name Hessischer Handkäse is limited to cheese made and packed in Hesse

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Mainzer Käse

Cow milkOtherWashed rindAlso Mainzer Handkäse

The sour-milk cheese Mainz calls its Handkäs, made from low-fat sour quark of cow's milk mixed with salt and ripening salts and formed into small loaves. German Wikipedia says a woman farmer named Kaul from Groß-Gerau created it in 1813 and sold it at the Mainz weekly market; Käserei Horst's company history also dates the area's cheese-making to 1813 and names Mainz as its main trading hub. Groß-Gerau had about 25 dairies around 1900. It is sold with or without caraway, served as Handkäs mit Musik, and thrown in small bags by the Haubinger guard at Mainz carnival.

Taste: Hearty and savoury (herzhaft würzig, in Käserei Horst's words), with a supple, firm paste and an unmistakable aroma. It is very high in protein and low in fat, with a water content of 60 to 73%.

Ageing: About 2 to 2.5 days in a sweating room, then brushed or sprayed with red-smear brine and ripened 1 to 2 more days before packing (Käserei Horst's process)

Made in: Groß-Gerau and the Gerauer Land in Hesse, across the Rhine from Mainz, where it was long sold and traded; called Handkäs in Mainz

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Spundekäs

FreshAlso Spundekäs'

A spiced fresh-cheese spread from northern Rheinhessen: two parts cream cheese and three parts cream quark stirred smooth with pepper, salt and sweet paprika, with chopped or ringed onions on top or alongside. It is a regional preparation rather than a registered cheese. rheinhessen.de, the region's tourism and wine site, calls it an evergreen among the small dishes eaten with wine, on almost every menu of the wine bars and estate taverns. Its name comes from the Spund, the bung of a wine barrel: it was first shaped like a pointed, twisted barrel stopper. It is eaten as a dip with pretzels or spread on hearty bread.

Taste: A smooth mass of cream cheese and cream quark seasoned with salt, pepper and sweet paprika, with raw onion on top or alongside. Recipes vary: some add butter, garlic, caraway, mustard or capers, and more butter makes it firmer.

Ageing: Not aged; a fresh preparation stirred together from cream cheese and cream quark

Made in: Northern Rheinhessen; served in practically all wine houses and Straußwirtschaften of Rheinhessen and the Rheingau

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Cheeses in Rheinhessen, FAQ

What does "mit Musik" mean?

It is the traditional marinade of onions, vinegar and oil with pepper and salt. German Wikipedia says the name allegedly hints at the noises onions cause in digestion, and gives a second theory about vinegar and oil bottles once clinking when served.

Is Handkäse protected?

Only the name Hessischer Handkäse, registered as a PGI by Commission Regulation (EU) 784/2010. Since September 2010 only sour-milk cheese made and packed in Hesse may carry it, though the quark need not come from Hesse. Handkäse as a type is not protected.

What do people drink with it?

German Wikipedia says cider is the usual drink with Handkäse, but that in some areas such as Rheinhessen and the Palatinate a dry white wine is drunk with it as well.

Is Mainzer Käse the same as Handkäse?

Close, and the names overlap: in Mainz and the Rhine-Main area Mainzer Käse is simply called Handkäs. Both are small sour-milk cheeses of low-fat quark, but German Wikipedia notes that Handkäse can also be made as a white-mould cheese, which Mainzer Käse is not.

Where does it come from?

From Groß-Gerau in Hesse, across the Rhine from Mainz. German Wikipedia says it was created there in 1813 and sold at the Mainz market, and Käserei Horst's company history dates the area's cheese-making to the same year.

How is it served in Mainz?

Often as Handkäs mit Musik, marinated in vinegar, wine, oil and onions, and offered with or without caraway.

What is in Spundekäs?

In the basic recipe, two parts cream cheese and three parts cream quark, pepper, salt and sweet paprika, with onions served over or beside it. Many cooks add butter, egg yolk, Schmand or crème fraîche.

What is it eaten with?

Salt or lye pretzels as a dip, or hearty bread as a spread, according to German Wikipedia; rheinhessen.de says dry bread or salted baked goods, especially lye pretzels.

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