#cheese_of_the_day Vacherin Mont D’Or and a “cheesy” comeback

Monday, October 23, 2017


I’ve lost count...

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve apologized for not writing. 

Definitely more than five. Maybe ten. I don’t know. As I said I’ve lost count. So here’s one more and with this one I stop. Apologizing that is because there are going to be more breaks in the future. My free time is scarce. So scarce that I consider it an unprecedented luxury to be able to take a decent enough photo to post on Instagram. 

Nikiforos is everywhere and George seems to be working 24/7. Sometimes I feel like a married single mom! It’s hard and exhausting. 


But today was an exception. I managed to find time to write these few lines and it felt so good. There is no recipe in this post, just a few words about an amazing cheese I had today. 


Vacherin Mont D’Or the holy grail of soft gooey Swiss cheese. I fell in love with this cheese even before I tasted it. A few months ago I was watching a documentary about Switzerland ( in French!!!!) and that’s when I saw it. The presenter was taking spoonfuls out of its wooden basket, spreading them on crisped bread and I caught myself salivating. 

I run to the supermarket the next day but couldn’t find it. I went to an even bigger one still nothing. Not even at the food hall of one of Geneva’s department stores. Quelle deception!! Seriously disappointed I let it go but never really forgot about it and continued looking for it. Then a few days ago I found it! A whole lot of them lined up in the fridge right next to the fondue mixes. 

The Vacherin MOnt D’Or is exclusively produced between the end September and the beginning of April in the Les Charbonnieres and the Jura Vaud region by a handful of cheesemakers, “les affineurs”. They are those who are responsible for the maturation of the cheese and the refinement of its taste and take great care in preserving the hundred year old tradition of its making.


The Vacherin Mont D’Or cheeses are unique because they are very, very runny. That’s why they are wrapped in a piece of spruce bark from the moment they are made until eaten. The wood is hand harvested from special fir trees of the Jura mountains and imparts its delicate aroma and flavor onto the cheese. 

Each cheese has to meet specific requirements to qualify for AOP mark and one of the most important ones is the quality of the milk which comes from cows fed exclusively with herbs and flowers from the Jura Vaud mountains. The milk is gently heated (thermised) preserving the natural qualities of raw milk whilst considerably improving its bacteriological conditions. 

It can be eaten as is, spread on toasted bread or even better baked in the oven with a couple garlic cloves and a splash of white wine...

And that's all the time I have for now...

See you again soon, I hope with another Swiss cheese or maybe a recipe.

Au revoir mes amies 💗