Tomme (), occasionally spelled Tome, is a type of cheese and is a generic name given to a class of cheese produced mainly in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

and in Switzerland.Joel Robuchon et al., ''Larousse Gastronomique'' (New York, New York: Clarkson Potter, 2001), page 1220. It can be made from cow's, ewe's, or goat's milk. Tommes are normally produced from the

skimmed milk Skimmed milk (British English), or skim milk (American English), is made when all the milkfat is removed from whole milk. It tends to contain around 0.1% fat. Background Historically, skimmed milk was used for fattening pigs, and was recommende ...

left over after the cream has been removed to produce

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...

and richer cheeses, or when there is too little milk to produce a full cheese. As a result, they are generally low in fat. However, Tomme de Boudane and Tomme de Revard can contain as much as 20–40% fat. Tomme cheeses date back to

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

. There are many varieties of Tommes, which are usually identified by their place of origin. The most famous of these is Tomme de Savoie. Other Tommes include Tomme Boudane, Tomme au Fenouil, Tomme de Crayeuse, Tomme d'Aydius, Tomme de Grandmère, Tomme Affinée and Tomme du Revard. Tomme de Montagne is a collective term for the upland varieties, e.g., Tomme de Savoie but not Tomme de Beaujolais. An Italian product spelled Toma or Tuma originates from the area between

Val d'Aoste , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French , ...

and

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; lij, label= Intemelio, Ventemiglia , lij, label= Genoese, Vintimiggia; french: Vintimille ; oc, label= Provençal, Ventemilha ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located southwest of ...

, and is usually made from cow's milk. Tomme is traditionally used to make aligot, an

Auvergnat or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rather a va ...

dish combining melted cheese and mashed potatoes.

References

See also