A winter cheese bound in a spruce band, warmed in its box and scooped out with a spoon. It is made only from autumn to spring in the Jura, when the cows come off the alpine pastures, and the spruce ring is what holds the soft paste together.
It is a seasonal PDO raw-milk cheese made only in winter, ripened with a washed rind in a controlled cellar and bound in spruce bark cut for the purpose.
What goes into it
- raw cow’s milk from winter feeding
- rennet
- salt
- a spruce bark band and box
- Brevibacterium linens
How it is made
The milk is set gently and the curd drained without pressing, then each cheese is wrapped in a band of spruce bark cut that season and set in a spruce box. Through ripening the cheeses are washed with brine, which builds the orange rind, and the spruce gives its resin to the paste. They ripen for at least seventeen days and are sold in their boxes.
How long it takes: at least seventeen days, and a season that runs only from autumn to spring
How it is eaten
Warmed whole in its box with garlic and white wine, and scooped with a spoon over potatoes.
History
Made only from autumn to spring in the Jura, when cows leave the alpine pastures; the spruce bark ring holds the soft paste together.
Frequently asked questions
What is Vacherin Mont-d’Or?
Vacherin Mont-d’Or is a cheese & dairy from Switzerland: winter cheese in a spruce band, eaten warmed and scooped with a spoon. Made only from autumn to spring in the Jura, when cows leave the alpine pastures; the spruce bark ring holds the soft paste together.
How is Vacherin Mont-d’Or made?
The milk is set gently and the curd drained without pressing, then each cheese is wrapped in a band of spruce bark cut that season and set in a spruce box. Through ripening the cheeses are washed with brine, which builds the orange rind, and the spruce gives its resin to the paste. They ripen for at least seventeen days and are sold in their boxes. It takes at least seventeen days, and a season that runs only from autumn to spring.
Can I make Vacherin Mont-d’Or at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is a seasonal PDO raw-milk cheese made only in winter, ripened with a washed rind in a controlled cellar and bound in spruce bark cut for the purpose.
What goes into Vacherin Mont-d’Or?
Raw cow’s milk from winter feeding, rennet, salt, a spruce bark band and box, brevibacterium linens.
How is Vacherin Mont-d’Or eaten?
Warmed whole in its box with garlic and white wine, and scooped with a spoon over potatoes.
