Reblochon

My post content Reblochon

Pronounced – Reb-low-shon

A 13th-century version of tax avoidance created this beauty. Unique to the Haute-Savoie region this historic cheese is made in the mountains from unpasteurised cows’ milk.

Reblochon derives from the word ‘Reblocher’, translated it means to pinch the cow’s udder again. In 13th century France the landowners would be taxed on their milk yields, so farmers decided to only three-quarters milk their cattle and leave some milk remaining in the udder until they had paid their daily tax. The milk left became substantially creamier and richer in flavour, perfect for cheese making and the staple flavours that Reblochon became known for. By the 16th Century the cheese had such a following it was often referred to as fromage de devotion (devotional cheese) offered to Carthusian monks by farmers in return for having their farms blessed.

Reblochon offers a soft and velvety texture with rich, buttery and nutty flavours that have a background malt/toast notes. These are mild in depth of flavour but with exciting complexity; it has an attractive rind that offers a nice level of bite to the experience and an earthy aroma. It is often associated with winter as one of the central ingredients in Tartiflette.

Reblochon became a protected cheese in 1958, known in France as AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) and in the UK as PDO (Protected Designation of Origin). Within its AOC stipulations, only three breeds of cattle are allowed to be milked to produce this cheese, Abondance, Tarentaise and the Montbéliarde. The cattle must spend a minimum of 150 days per year grazing the mountain pastures and only the grass and hay produced in the restricted geographical location are allowed to make up the cows’ diet. Cattle and workers will live in the mountain’s high pastures for four to five months per year moving cattle around the pastureland to ensure the freshest grass is being consumed. The cows are milked twice per day with a cheese make straight after each milking, the milk comes out of the cow at 35c and is transferred straight to the vat where production begins, as the PDO states none of the milk can be pasteurised and no part of the production will allow the milk to rise above 37c. During the make process nearly every process will be done by hand, from cutting the curd to carefully to moulding and turning these cheeses. Once produced and moulded each cheese will spend one to two hours in a brine bath (a salty solution) before being moved to a drying room for one week. Every day the cheese will be washed in brine again, this process helps to produce the rind along with the flavour. After one week in the drying room, the cheeses will be moved to maturing cellars onto spruce boards, here they’ll spend a minimum of eighteen days but more likely thirty-five to forty days maturing before they’re distributed across Europe and other parts of the world.

Sadly, for our friends across the pond, Reblochon has not been available in America since 2004 due to changes in their import laws with rather strange, yet stringent parameters that they have set around the pasteurisation of soft and semi-soft cheeses. This rules out a vast amount of French cheeses able to be imported.

Pairing suggestions: Enjoy with unoaked red wine such as Beaujolais or Pinot Noir. For white wine lovers try Semillon or Pinot Gris. Food pairings you can enjoy with nuts, dried fruits, fresh pear or crusty bread as perfect companions that bring out the different flavours in the cheese.