Back to Nature – Wood Bound

Hello Cheese Enthusiast!

This week’s entry is/was part of a cheese and wine event that I was supposed to teach in the Spring.

The plan was to talk about five different cheeses and how the cheesemaker used nature to overcome the problem at hand. 

Let me better explain by using an example from my fellow ACS CCP, Reed Pattison – “One can complement nature, or contrast it…Take the example of a river…One could simply build a bridge over it and complement it, or contrast it by diverting the river to another area”. The more I thought about it, he was totally right and I was reminded of the stories of my grandfather and great grandfather who worked on the construction of the Hoover Dam. These 21,000 man had to stop the flow of the mighty Colorado River and divert the water into diversion tunnels, all before the construction of the dam could begin. That is a contrast!

In the area of cheesemaking, the problems were not nearly as complex as building a dam, but they still had obstacles to overcome and that was the point (and focus) of my talk at the winery. 

Since everything seems to be on hold for the foreseeable future, I thought that I would take my time to break these stories down and tell them individually to you.

The first installment “Back to Nature – Marinated” can be read here.

This week, I wanted to share with you the second installment – Wood Bound

To say that cheese is a direct complement to nature is an understatement. From the grass, to the animals, to the milking, to the heating of the milk with fire, to the forms originally made from clay, to aging in caves, later on wood planks, they all have an element that ties in with nature. 

In the case of this cheese that I am about to feature, the cheesemakers had to deal with the issue of a high moisture in the curd and needing someway to contain it in order to age it…without this containment, it would just simply run off the table as it ripened.

Image courtesy of BBC Good Food

Vacherin Mont d'Or AOP, also known as Vacherin du Haut Doubs PDO are the same cheese, even though they are produced in two different countries. They both follow all of the same rules and regulations for production except one – Vacherin Mont d'Or AOP is made with thermized (or raw) milk on the Switzerland side of the Jura Mountains, while Vacherin du Haut Doubs is made only with raw milk on the French side. They both have a soft, pale brown rind that is deep and wavy and are contained in spruce wooden boxes. These boxes not only add flavor, but they also hold the cheese curd together, as it can get simply runny as it ripens. 

Vacherin Mont d'Or takes its name from the mountainous peak of Mont d'Or (1,463 meters), which borders Switzerland / France. As early as 1280, the first written traces can be found mentioning “a cheese surrounded by a wooden strap” being made in the Haut-Doubs and Vaud regions.

Image courtesy of EU DOOR

These straps, known as a “Sangle,” are made from the inner bark of a Spruce Tree. These can only be harvested a certain time of the year and are cut into strips that will be eventually wrapped around the young wheels of cheese. 

These cheeses started out as a “holiday cheese” due to their size and uniqueness. These cheesemakers typically produced large cheeses during the spring and summer like Comté or Gruyère, but then in the fall and winter when the cows (“Vaches”, hence the name Vacherin) produced smaller amounts of milk and it was harder to transport the milk during the winter months. 

This cheese was recognized as a protected AOC 1981 and later a PDO (AOP in Switzerland) after the formation of the European Union in 1996.

There is one more unique thing about this cheese…Its seasonal! From its PDO/AOP rules, it is only produced from August 15th through March 31st. These cheeses have a five inch diameter and stand about two inches tall. 

This unique cheese spurred others to use the same technique of banding with spruce…The following are some of my favorites:

·      L’Edel de Cléron – One of my earliest inspirations, read more here! Made by Fromagerie Jean-Perrin in Cléron, France and uses Pasteurized Milk see photo at top)

…and some amazing American breakthroughs…

·      Rush Creek Reserve – Made from Raw milk from Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville, Wisconsin 

·      Harbison – Made from pasteurized milk from Jasper Hill Farm, in Greensboro, Vermont as well as their raw milk version named Winnimere.

Put any of these on your bucket list, as they are special cheeses worthy of the praise!

Hallelujah!

Until next week,

Trevor