Cheese of the
Month, January 2005.
Cheese: Vacherin Mont d’Or.
Bought from: Supermarkets, markets and cheese
shops, from November to March
Price: Around €20 a kilo.
Type of Cheese: Unpasteurized, unpressed cow’s
cheese.
Ingredients: Cow’s milk, salt.
Age: Matured for at least three weeks.
Region produced in: The Swiss Jura. Or over the
border in France (Franche-Comté), where it is called ‘Vacherin
Haute-Doubs’ or ‘Le Mont d’Or’. |
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When ripe, this is my single favourite cheese. The ring of spruce
wood, which keeps the cheese together, infuses a magical foresty
wonderland of flavour into the salt-washed rind and the running,
ivory goo. When it is not ripe, it tastes more like ‘Laughing
cow’ triangles.
The best ones that I have tried were Swiss, but the French versions
can be just as good if stored in the optimum conditions. They
both have the same cultural roots and the same production methods.
The French one is available all over France, whereas the Swiss
is slightly harder find. Either way, it is worth buying a more
expensive, prize-winning cheese, because you are more likely to
experience perfection.
You can buy either a slice of a large Vacherin, which are about
30cm in diameter, or a whole small one in its wooden box, of around
10 - 13cm across. It is easier to check on ripeness from the large
ones, because you can see how much it is running, and even ask
for a taste. With the little whole cheeses, I would advise you
to keep it for a while, to ensure ripeness. If you cut into the
cheese before it is ripe, it will dry out before it can mature.
Vacherin is so runny, that it is traditionally served, surface
crust removed, with a spoon! I like it most when there are lots
of runny bits, and some more solid parts in the centre. Marvellous
for any occasion, especially dinner parties. Another tradition,
if you buy a small cheese (whether it is ripe or not), is to bake
it in its box. Serve it hot (you will need a spoon), and if it
is a main course, accompany it with boiled potatoes, pickles,
a green salad and red wine.
<b>Interesting info: </b>
‘Hauts-Doubs’ is protected by French law, and both
this and the Swiss Vacherin are made from the milk of mountain
cows which are fed only on their winter diet of hay. Vacherin
was first made by mountain dairy farmers who could not get to
the Emmental and Gruyere-producing coops with their milk, due
to terrible weather. In order to prevent their milk going to waste,
they made their own cheeses at home, and the result was Vacherin,
which quickly became a sought-after cheese in its own right.
© Gemma Driver 2005
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