Tête de Moine. Unusual Cheese and Greatest Swiss Export
Tête de Moine is an unusual cheese. It is served in the form of beautiful and neat roses, it has a powerful rustic aroma with rich notes of sour milk, expressive taste, and, importantly, moderate salinity. Learn about the peculiarities of this cheese in the following article.
How has it appeared?
It is believed that Tête de Moine cheese began to be produced around the end of the 12th century. The fact is that for the first time Tête de Moine began to be made in monasteries, and earlier than others – in the Bellelay monastery, in the French-speaking region of the canton of Bern. And when the monks sold their cheese in the markets, they periodically scraped it, to satisfy their hunger. Also, at that time this name itself did not exist – Tête de Moine. It appeared only at the end of the 18th century. There is a version that it got its name because of the French military who invaded Switzerland at that time. They compared the method of filing Tête de Moine (that scraping) with the process of tonsuring a monk.
The content of the cheese
Tête de Moine cheese was already highly valued in those old days. It was used as collateral for the issuance of loans, it was brought as a gift to priests, and sometimes they were even replaced with money in mutual settlements. Since 2001, this cheese has been protected in origin, it has been awarded the AOC status.
Tet de Moines cheese contains raw (and only raw) cow’s milk, salt, and animal rennet. The fat content is 27-35%. Mass fraction of fat in dry matter – 45-51%. Energy value – 415-420 kcal per 100 grams. The minimum aging period for Tête de Moine cheese is 2.5 months, it is stand on coniferous planks.
The taste and aroma
Tête de Moine has a very light colour with a yellowish tinge. Pieces of cheese are rolled into beautiful roses. The consistency on the tongue is quite tender, although, in reality, the cheese is rather hard. Tête de Moine has a strong aroma with notes of the village, zesty nuances, a bit of barnyard, and a little spice.
The taste is bright and rich, with notes of sour milk, nuts, spices. The salinity is low. The long and expressive aftertaste, quite spicy. All in all, excellent cheese.
How to serve it?
Like any other hard, aged cheese, Tête de Moine must be removed from the refrigerator half an hour before serving. This is a great option for a cheese platter. It can also be used as a decoration for dishes and plates, as a stand-alone snack.
The classic companion to Tête de Moine is a dry or semi-dry white wine, but not too bright in style, restrained. You can have sparkling, including white champagne.
Now you are aware of the pride of Switzerland. The cheese is worth getting as you will enjoy the rich takes and feel aesthetic pleasure by the way how it should be cut. It will be a great addition to the table. To find the Tête de Moine just visit the Pong Cheese website.
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