Vacherin Mont d'Or (), or simply Vacherin (), is a
cow's milk (French ''vache'', "cow")
cheese
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
. Two main types of French or Swiss Vacherin cheeses exist.
One type of Vacherin cheese is called mont d'Or, or Vacherin du Haut-Doubs, from France,
['' 'French Cheeses' '', DK, ]['' 'Cheeses of the World' '', RolIand Barthelemy; Arnaud Sperat-Czar, (2001) ] or Vacherin Mont-d'Or from Switzerland
(though it tends to just be called ''Vacherin'' in the local shops). It is a soft, rich, seasonal cheese made from cow's milk in Switzerland and France, usually in villages of the
Jura region (an origin that has been officially controlled since 1981), and has a grayish-yellow
washed rind. The cheese is wrapped in a "''sangle''" made from the
cambium of a
Norway spruce tree (French: ') for about two weeks at least, which gives the cheese a unique flavour. It typically contains 45 to 50 percent milk fat (in dry matter), and is produced between August 15 and March 15, and sold between September 10 and May 10. The Swiss ''Vacherin Mont d'Or'' is generally made with
thermized milk (pasteurization is not allowed), while the French ''Vacherin du Haut-Doubs'' is unpasteurized.
It is traditionally made in the winter months when the cows come down from Alpage (mountain pastures) and there is not enough milk to make
Comté cheese.
It is marketed in round boxes of various diameters made of
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...
. The strips of spruce are harvested by specialists called "sanglier". It is often served warmed in its original packaging and eaten like
fondue.
Officially, the French AOC/PDO allows ''Artisanal'' and ''Coopérative'' production of Mont d'Or.
There are 11 producers of Vacherin in France (2009).
Swiss Vacherin Mont d'Or is protected since 2003, by an AOC, and since 2013, by an AOP.
See also
*
List of cheeses
This is a list of cheeses by place of origin. Cheese is a milk-based food that is produced in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms. Hundreds of types of cheese from various countries are produced. Their styles, textures and flavors dep ...
*
List of French cheeses
*
List of Swiss cheeses
*
Culinary Heritage of Switzerland
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vacherin Mont d'Or
Culinary Heritage of Switzerland
French cheeses
Swiss cheeses
Cow's-milk cheeses
Washed-rind cheeses