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CHEESE

Holes in approval for French Gruyère cheese

French producers of "Gruyère" cheese have won recognition for their produce under an all-important regional trading name system but it will have to have holes, unlike Swiss Gruyère, the European Commission said Friday.

Published: 7 December 2012 16:30 CET
Holes in approval for French Gruyère cheese
Swiss Gruyère — the one without the holes (Photo: Rolf Krahl)

"The European Commission proposal to register the denomination 'Gruyère' as a protected geographical indicator has been approved" by a committee of EU
experts, EU farming commission spokesman Roger Waite said.

The requirement is that French Gruyère cheese must contain holes "between the size of a pea and a cherry," and the French origin must be visible on
packaging, Waite said.

To-date, only Swiss Gruyère benefited from this degree of protection under a bilateral accord between the EU and non-member Switzerland.

Australian and New Zealand producers, as well as the American milk industry, had lodged objections to the recognition of French Gruyere as a distinct product.

Although the stereotype of Swiss cheese is of varieties with holes, this applies only to certain kinds, such as Emmental, but not to Gruyère.

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CHEESE

Why is everyone in France talking about Mont d’Or cheese today?

Mont d’Or cheese is a French treasure you can only find at a specific time of the year. But why's that?

Published: 10 September 2020 14:58 CEST
Why is everyone in France talking about Mont d’Or cheese today?
A Mont d'Or cheese. Photo: AFP

Today is the day!

September 10th marks the beginning of the sale of the famous Mont d’Or cheese in France.

This rich cheese with a rich history borrows its name from the highest point of the Doubs département (located in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France) and goes way back since it was already mentioned in the 1280 Encyclopédie des Fromages (the Cheese Encyclopeadia).  

 

You can also find it under the name Vacherin, but rather in Switzerland than in its original region.

Though it is much loved, the Mont d’Or cheese is also much awaited as it can only be savoured from September 10th to May. Here’s why.

A seasonal cheese

The Mont d’Or was first created after peasants looked to create a smaller cheese with their “winter milk”, as the production was reduced during the coldest months. A raw milk that, according to the Fromagerie La Ferté, gives it a “texture that offers a soft and creamy consistency without being too runny”.

It can only be produced from August 15th to March 31st, hence why its appearances in dairies are seasonal.

Consequently, it became a winter cheese and could not be produced in the summer since it can’t handle hot temperatures. During spring and summer, where milk is more abundant, Comté cheese is made. 

READ ALSO: This is how much the French are obsessed with cheese

Specific production process

But other than being unobtainable during the sunny months, its making process also follows a list of specifications since it has both the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée and the Appelation d’Origine Protégée.

These designations attest to the authenticity of the product and of the savoir-faire of its producers while protecting its name not only in France but in the entire European Union.

The Mont d’Or can then only be produced in a designated area of 95 Haut-Doubs municipalities – all at least 700 metres above sea level – and made at of raw milk from grass-fed Montbeliarde or French Simmental herds.

A woman cutting the spruce straps that circle the Mont d'Or cheese. Photo: AFP

The cheese is also supported by a circle of spruce wood to provide it from running. After at least a 12-day maturing (during which the cheese is scrubbed daily with salted water), the Mont d’Or terminates its ripening process in a slightly smaller spruce box that gives it its wrinkled crust as a nod to the mountain it took its name from.

But these many specificities do not prevent producers from delivering (on average) 5,500 tonnes of Mont d’Or each year.

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