Better Know a Cheese

From: The region of the Jura in the French Alps
Made By:  Fromagerie Badoz
Milk: Pasteurized cow’s milk
Curdling type: rennet
Size/ weigh: Flat disc about 9″ in diameter and 1″ tall.  It weighs in at about 16 oz
Rind: Washed with brine every 2 days during first weeks of aging, giving a pungent, orange colored rind
Interior: semi firm to very soft paste, depending on ripeness
Aged: 6 to 8 weeks

Historical notes: Delice de Jura is another  pasteurized milk cheese modeled on a traditional raw milk cheese that’s been banned from importation to the United States for containing raw milk.  In this case, the model is Reblochon, one of the wonders of alpine cheese making.  Reblochon was available in the US until 2004, when the USDA began enforcing a ban on raw milk cheeses aged less than 90 days. Delice du Jura was developed in 2005 by the Fromagerie Badoz, who also make AOP reblochon.

Badoz is a family run fromagerie founded in 1960, although members of the family have made cheese since the 1830’s.  As a fromagerie, Badoz uses the milk from a number of fruitières or small, independent dairy farmers in the region, as well as milk from their own farm.   The majority of their cheeses are AOP raw milk alpine cheeses;  most are not available in the U.S. One of the unique features of this fromagerie is their cheese aging facility, which was constructed in the ’70s in an abandoned railroad tunnel.

There are many legends regarding the  origins of reblochon-style cheeses;  I will leave you to explore Wikipedia if you are curious.  But what is clear is that it was developed  predominantly as a cheese for home consumption by farmers who produced larger, more easily marketed and transported cheeses as their livelihood.  They sold the comte and morbier and ate the reblochon themselves.

Tasting Notes:  From a personal perspectivee, reblochon was one of my first cheese loves.  Creamy, mild and easy to enjoy, but with a washed rind that give enough funk to seem like a challenge (albiet an easily mastered one!), it is a great cheese for beginners striking out for more adventurous territory. 

Wine to go with:  I always find that the best match with any cheese is the wine from the same region where it is produced.  In this case, a crisp white Aprement from the Jura would be a great match. A peppery, lighter bodied Arbois red from the same region would also be a complimentary match.  Traditional guides list pinot noir from Burgundy as an appropriate pairing, which I would be very happy to try.

Where to find it now:  Is featured fairly often throughout the year at both Le Pichet and Café Presse, especially in the fall when it is made from very rich summer milk.  Currently at Cafe Presse

From: The region of Tarn et Garonne, north of of Toulouse in southwest France.
Made By:  Le Ferme du Ramier.
Milk: Raw cow’s milk
Curdling type: rennet
Size/ weigh: Flat disc about 18″ in diameter and 3″ tall.  It weighs in at about 12#
Rind: Washed rind.
Interior: semi-firm pate, gently ivory in color and tender.
Aged: 60 to 90 day

Historical notes: Le Ferme du Ramier is a run by several generations of the family family Maravel in the town of Montauban in the southwest of France.  This is a regions that encompasses the gentle plains of the Languedoc and the rugged valleys that join it to the Massif Central, France’s high central plateau.  Accordingly it is a region where cheese is made from the milk of cows, who favor that flatter lands and goats and sheep, who thrive in harsher, steeply sloped terrain.

The master cheese maker is Helene Depierre, daughter of the current owners.  Le Ferme du Ramier produces only “fermier” cheeses, meaning that the cheeses are all made on the farm exclusively from the milk of the farm’s own herd.  Interesting side note, their website states that the cows are raised in toute liberté:  unlike most farms who milk their animals twice a day, Le Ferme du Ramier keeps its milking room open 24 hours a day…the cows decide themselves when they want to be milked!

The cheeses are aged about 60 days at the farm, so arrive on our tables here between 70 and 90 days old.  During aging on the farm, the cheeses are washed with a mixture of saltwater brine and cheese residues from previous batches, which is referred to as a morge.  This mixture gives the aged cheese its reddish brown appearance – the name roux refers to this color –  resulting a what is called a croute morgée.

Tasting Notes:  The rind of the Ramier roux, although moist when young, is dry and pungent at 4 months of age.  Probably to strong and tough for any but the hardiest rind eaters.  by contrast, the paste is mild and milky with flavors of the herbs of the Tarn gorges, of licorice and of fennel.   Maybe an aftertaste of hazelnuts and caramel.  The stronger exterior adds an earthy note that it still mild and balanced.

Wine to go with:  A well structured but not overly forward red wine would be a perfect match.  I recommend the Domaine Jean-Louis Denois “Les Garrigues” Vin de France Rouge.  This wine harks from the Languedoc near the town of Roquetaillade, only an hour or so by car from le Ferme du Ramier.  A blend of syrah, grenache, merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon, this wine comes across more as a small chateau Bordeaux than a big Languedoc, meaning more finesse and structure, less power.  It was while drinking this wine that the herb and anise flavors of the cheese were most notable. On the wine list at Café Presse now.

Where to find it now:  Café Presse