Butterkase

What's better than butterkäse?

Butterkäse is a gorgeous-dreamy-movie-star of a cheese. Luscious and creamy, it'll knock you out with its decadent, buttery flavor, and soft, melty complexion. Like a matinee idol, it appeals to one and all – kids will love its mildness, while adults appreciate its sophisticated, nuanced flavors. When butterkäse is in the room, you can be sure it will always draw a crowd.

Butterkäse is originally from Germany and Austria, where it's pronounced "booter-keh-zuh." In Wisconsin, we just pronounce it "Mmmm" and make butterkäse the star of everything from omelets and grilled cheese sandwiches to quesadillas and macaroni and cheese.

So, whip out your cheese knives, people – butterkäse is ready for its close-up.

How to buddy up your butterkäse

With a savory and buttery flavor that won't hit you over the head, butterkäse goes well with almost everything and can be sliced, spread, or melted to perfection. As a German-style cheese, it feels right at home on a meat and cheese platter with some black forest ham, pickles, and spicy mustard. It's absolute heaven melted over steamed vegetables or topping a juicy half-pound burger. As a spreadable cheese, it's great on crackers or crostini. We like to dollop butterkäse on pizza, fold it into omelets, or make some out-of-this-world mac and cheese.

If you're drinking beer with butterkäse, a pilsner, pale ale, kolsch, or a slightly sweet German weiss beer will fill the bill. When popping corks, chardonnay and Grüner Veltliner are excellent options. And butterkäse is always game to spend the evening by the fire with brandy, port and other digestifs, and dessert wines.

Why butterkäse is best in Wisconsin

Wisconsin has some serious German cred. It's not just the hundreds of German-speaking communities or sounds of polka bands seeping from every little supper club. It's also the fact that Wisconsin makes sehr gut German-style cheese.

That's because we've been making cheese for 175 years – since all those German immigrants arrived on these shores with little but their suitcases and their recipes for the cheeses of their homeland. In the decades since, our state has become a veritable cheese Valhalla, where 90% of all the milk this dairy land produces goes to making cheese. And not just any cheese mind you, but the tastiest, most award-winning, highest-quality cheese in the universe. And if you think that's an exaggeration, well, we invite you to come help us dust the 5,552 cheese awards that we keep on the mantle – more than any state or country in the world.

In Wisconsin, we like to have fun, but we are serious about cheese. Which means if you ever find yourself in in a room full of Wisconsinites and butterkäse, you'll need some fancy footwork to keep your head above the fray. That's what happens when whole state dreams in cheese.