Vacherin Mont-d'Or

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Vacherin Mont d'Or
Vacherin Mont d'Or in the typical spruce box

The Vacherin Mont-d'Or is a soft cheese made from cow's milk . It comes from the French Haut-Doubs , a region of Franche-Comté as well as the Swiss Jura , the area around the Lac de Joux and the Vaud Jura . The expression Mont d'Or ( French , German Goldberg , named after the mountain of the same name in the Jura, the Mont d'Or ) appeared in the course of the 19th century. It has enjoyed the status of a protected designation of origin since 1981 .

The size of the cheese wheel varies between 12 and 32 cm in diameter, and it is about 5 cm high. Its weight varies between 0.5 and 3 kg. The bark is red-brown and shows white to yellowish shades. The yellowish-white dough is creamy and soft and has a few small holes. After three weeks of ripening, it has a creamy, mild, slightly sweet taste. It matures in a spruce container, spanned by a band of spruce bark , which has a decisive influence on its taste. Its fat content is 50 percent fat i. Tr.

It is the product of a centuries-old tradition shared by France and Switzerland. Therefore it is necessary to use the

  • Vacherin Mont-d'Or français (also Mont d'Or , Mont d'Or français or Vacherin du Haut-Doubs ) and the
  • Vacherin Mont-d'Or Suisse

to distinguish.

Vacherin Mont-d'Or français

The French Mont-d'Or is made from raw milk. After a ripening time of five to seven weeks, its optimal eating time extends from October to February. It is produced from August 15th to March 15th and only sold between September 10th and May 10th. This limitation is due to the fact that in winter the cows were brought down from the alp into the stables to overwinter, whereby production fell sharply. This tradition is preserved through the AOC .

Vacherin Mont-d'Or Suisse

The Mont-d'Or Suisse is produced from August 20th to March 31st. He is fed from September 15th to April 15th.

Thermization of the milk

Artisanal foods can be prone to bacteriological problems. During the production of the Vacherin Mont-d'Or, one case ( listeria ) occurred in the late 1980s . Since then, the Swiss Vacherin headquarters, in cooperation with the Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux milk research institute, has issued strict production regulations. In order to meet the requirements of food control, the Vacherin Mont-d'Or is now made from thermised milk and cultivated with lactic acid bacteria. Under Thermisation (heating) refers to a gentle process, thanks to the natural qualities of the raw milk are largely retained, but be improved by the bacteriological conditions.

storage

A dark cellar with max. 12 ° C and high humidity . In the refrigerator , it is advisable to cover the Vacherin with aluminum or plastic foil so that it does not dry out. With increasing maturity the Vacherin becomes softer and more fluid. The Vacherin can also be stored frozen. In this case, the cheese should be thawed slowly in the refrigerator and then brought to room temperature, as it only develops its creamy, almost viscous consistency and all of its aroma at room temperature. Once frozen, Vacherin should be consumed quickly, otherwise the cheese mass will become thin.

various

According to the producers' recommendations, a very simple cheese fondue can also be prepared from the Vacherin with little effort : Soak the Vacherin with plenty of white wine , wrap it in aluminum foil and heat it up briefly in the oven , add a crispy baguette or boiled potatoes and you can have a fondue enjoy.

The Vacherin Mont-d'Or should not be confused with the Vacherin fribourgeois , which is a semi-hard cheese from the Swiss canton of Friborg .

Web links

Commons : Vacherin Mont d'Or (France)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Vacherin Mont d'Or (Switzerland)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files