Now the Tete des Moines cheese has become a peculiar symbol of Switzerland, especially the Jura Mountains. This elite product has an interesting history and no less entertaining name. After all, Tête de Moine is translated from French as “Monk's Head”. Not too appetizing for cheese, is it? But those who at least once tried this sour-milk product with a spicy, slightly sweet taste, will become its adherent forever. The Swiss are big entertainers in the way cheese is served. They make some varieties exclusively for fondue, others should be put in heat and scraped melted pieces, like shawarma. In this article, we will reveal the intricacies of serving Tete de Mouin cheese. What is customary to use this product with?
A bit of history
Cheese "Tete des Moines" older than the Swiss Confederation for a hundred years. In 1136, Belle Abbey was founded in the Jura Mountains. And the monks of this monastery, in addition to prayers and vigils, were engaged in animal husbandry and cheese making. The first written mention of Tête de Moine dates back to 1192. However, cheese was then named after the abbey - "Belle". After all, the monastery was a large landowner, and tenant farmers paid for the use of pasture with livestock products. Cheese "Belle" was made from the most fat unpasteurized milk. Only summer milk was used for it, and only from those cows that grazed in the juicy alpine meadows of the Jura. The quality of the cheese was so excellent that its heads served for a long time as a cash equivalent.
How Belle became the Tete de Muan
And where did this strange name come from - “The head of a monk”? Soldiers of the French Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century gave a new name to cheese. In an anti-clerical rush, they expelled the monks from the monasteries and expropriated their lands. Belle Abbey did not pass this fate. They say that the revolutionaries discovered cheeses in the monastery cellars, which, according to ancient tradition, were made in the size and shape of a human head. And when the soldiers found out how to properly eat the Tête de Muan cheese, they had an association of surface scuffing with clipping of monastic tonsure. The abbey was empty, but the art of making "Belle" was not lost. The farmer Hofstetter, who in 1856 presented his product at the World Agricultural Competition in Paris, popularized the “Monk's Head” cheese. He has won many awards. And not only thanks to the incomparable taste. The presentation was very amazed by the French, avid to the original. What does it consist of?
Tete de Mouin cheese knife
As we recall, the product delivery form reminded the French soldiers of the monk's clipping of tonsure. Unlike most cheeses, the Tete des Moines is not cut into pieces, not rubbed or melted. The surface of the head is usually scribbled, so that neat translucent “roses” are obtained. Previously, to get such a cheese bud, they used an ordinary sharp knife. It required skill, almost skill. A real breakthrough was made in 1982 by a mechanic from the canton of Jura Nicolas Crevoisier. He created the Tete de Mouin cheese fat, a special knife with which anyone can cut neat rosettes. The French word Girolle translates as "fox". A knife is a pin with a perpendicular rotating handle-blade. Such a brilliantly simple device spurred interest in the cheese "Monk's Head".
Taste qualities
This product is rather fatty, because it is made from whole milk of summer milk. This cheese is cooked exclusively in copper tanks. And abomasum is used of animal origin - calf. Taste characteristics also depend on exposure. Cheese "Tete de Muan", the recipe of which has not changed for over eight hundred years, ripens at least two and a half months in cool cellars on spruce boards. Each head is regularly turned over and washed with strong saline. As a result, the cheese is covered with a brown crust, and the “head” itself remains dense, yellow, uniform. The taste of Tete de Mouine is spicy and tender at the same time. It is sweet, velvety and sharp. The aroma of the product is restrained. The best taste is revealed with very thin slices.
How to serve Tete de Mouin cheese
Reviews recommend enjoying this delicacy in the company of good friends and to the accompaniment of white wine - dry or semi-sweet. A whole head of Tete de Mouin cheese is placed on a wooden plank. Exactly in the middle, a pin of fat is stuck into it. One turn with a handle-blade - and on the surface of the cheese remains the finest chips. Each eater shifts it to his plate. You can use the "Monk's Head" in the process of preparing complex snacks or canapes, but only as a decoration. Using grease - a knife that can often be purchased with Tete de Mouin cheese - making buds will be an easy task.
A real delicacy
Only ten products from Switzerland have a certificate of authenticity of origin (AOC). And the Tête de Muan cheese is one of them. It is produced at only ten plants located in a small area of Porrentruy (Bernese Jura Mountains). Cows must graze exclusively in local alpine meadows and eat fresh summer grass. The cheese is still aged on spruce boards in cool cellars. No colorants or flavors are allowed. Therefore, the price of cheese is quite high - about three and a half thousand rubles per head weighing eight hundred and fifty grams.