Mont d’Or Cheese
This cheese is a delight!
Made from cow’s milk in the Jura region in France, this cheese called Mont d’Or is an Appellation Origin Controlled cheese. It is marketed in round boxes made of spruce (épicéa) so very easy to spot at the supermarkets in France! It is also called “Vacherin” or “Fromage des Vachers”
You can eat this cheese as it is – it is best to leave it at room temperature a few hours before eating it or melted like a fondue.
My Mont d’Or Cheese Fondue Recipe
I made a hole in the middle of the cheese, placed a small glove of garlic and/or herbs (rosemary or thyme), and poured a splash of white wine. I replaced the lid and put the cheese in the oven at 180 degrees for about 20/30 minutes. Mine cooked for 40 minutes because my guests were late! As you can see from the photo it is ‘well done’!
I served my Mont d’Or cheese as a starter with fresh bread, of course, served from its original packaging. It was creamy and delicious and everyone enjoyed it.
You can serve it as main dish with boiled potatoes, salad and some ham, saucisson, just like a raclette.
Mont d’Or cheese has limited availability
This cheese can only be found in supermarkets in France between September and May so if you are planning to spend your holiday in France this summer you might not find it!
A little bit of history
Originally from the Franche-Comté region, more precisely from the Doubs department, Mont d’Or cheese was born at an altitude of 1463 metres in the Mont d’Or massif, located in the Jura mountains. The origin, and above all the rhythm of Mont d’Or production, are linked to the seasons: Montbéliard cows produced a lot of milk when they were in the meadows in fine weather, which was particularly useful for the production of Comté cheese. However, once winter arrived and the cows were nice and warm in their stable, fed on hay, their milk production dropped. And all this was without taking into account the snow that used to make the roads impassable and the collection of milk impossible.
Subsequently, the farmers of Franche-Comté decided to make their own cheese during those long winter months: the Mont d’Or was born! It is for this reason that Mont d’Or is not available all year round, but usually only between September and May. Purists even stipulate that it is only available for sale between 10 September and 10 May. So don’t expect to buy a Mont d’Or cheese in the middle of summer, your cheesemonger will confirm this fact!
