Dominique Ryser – The smiley foodie from Geneva

This man in his forties, Dominique Ryser, is a rising star amongst cheesemongers in Geneva, a profession which is on the decrease. ‘There were 52 cheese retailers in town in 1982, now there are only 6 or 7 of us, including the markets’. This only indicates ‘the growing brunt of large retailers and the increase in popularity of junk food’.

Born epicurean of ample proportions, and former chef who came to the cheese shop in 1992, to take over from his father-in-law (who gave the ‘Bruand cheese shop’ its name), Dominique was scared about limiting his horizons. ‘Devoting myself solely to cheese scared me a bit. But you can never get bored of cheese. There’s just so much of it.’

His shop, which is located in the indoor market near Lake Geneva, is overflowing with treasure, that he gets hold of in Switzerland, and in bordering countries, but also from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula. He has a well-developed method: ‘I look at where it comes from, who makes it and how it’s dispatched…’ With 300 different cheeses in stock, Dominique likes giving his customers a big choice: 5 different Roqueforts for example, or a variety of Raclette, which come from the high mountain pastures of Bagnes, Conches, Fey, Nendaz… ‘We even have a special selection of Raclette which has our name on it. It’s made near Saanen and matured in Gruyère caves in the Fribourg canton.’

The man is keen and eager about making new discoveries. What’s more, when the owner of a tea shop, Véronique Gallais, suggested trying out tea and cheese pairings, he was slightly skeptical, but didn’t hesitate for long. ‘She had been to a gastronomic meal, where the only drink served during the whole night was tea. When the cheese was served with tea, it was the biggest success of the evening. So we met up, tried lots of different combinations and finished by settling on about 15 pairings. That was five years ago. Since then, we have organised tasting nights for our customers. 600 people have already taken part. The number of guests is limited to 10 at a time.’

The good humour and chatty nature of this character works wonders in helping him to communicate his passion. Amongst his favourite pairings are ‘Puher, a fermented Chinese tea, with Vacherin Fribourgeois; black tea from China with raclette; and a salty, fishy, Japanese tea, with a 2 year old Gruyère with hints of caramel…’ ‘Like the cheese, the tea comes from a lot of different countries… It’s a world I never knew about, but the idea of terroir, is also very significant in this domain,’ he points out. ‘Darjeeling that is grown at an altitude of 2,000m will also have hints of honey and flowers, like an alpine cheese.’

More traditionally, he organises wine and cheese evenings. We listen to him desperately wanting to boast about the accuracy of pairing ‘a young Pinot noir, with Brillat-Savarin’, or ‘ a Chenin blanc de Loire with Saint-nectaire.’ He doesn’t recommend red wine: ‘In general, the tannins adapt badly to the saltiness of the cheese.’

Other pairings are available on the website, just as amusing and self-mocking as the man himself.