Cheesy Christmas 5: Reblochon

If ever there was a wintry cheese… today’s Cheesy Christmas sample would definitely be it.

Again, we were already somewhat familiar with today’s cheese as it’s not the first time it’s graced our pallet. Typically, anytime we’ve had it, it’s been in a well-known dish from the Alps… ‘tartiflette‘, combining potatoes, onions, lardons (small, cooked pieces of ham or bacon) and of course… Reblochon.

(If you’re wondering ‘Why the daily cheese posts?’, see this post.)

Tartiflette

There’s a natural association with winter here, given that tartiflette is a dish from the Savoie region, in the Alps. With the starch of the potatoes, the meat-bits and the cheese, it’s definitely hardy enough to warrant a bit of indulgence after being outside in the cold air of the mountains.

While tartiflette is very much an ‘everyman’s dish’ it’s far from the only way to eat Reblochon cheese. …but I get ahead of myself:

Day #5: Reblochon

Name: Reblochon
History of the Reblochon name can be seen here, but the most interesting thing (for us) – is this… there is a French verb in local dialect, ‘re-blocher’ which designates ‘the action of pinching a cow’s udder a second time’ (this blew Dominic’s mind!)… so ‘reblochon’ would be that which results from the second pinching.
Region: Like yesterday’s cheese, Reblochon also benefits from a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and is produced in the Haute Savoie region, in the heart of the French Alps.
Milk: Raw Cow’s milk
Our Score: 4.3/5
The kids said they smelled a horse barn with this cheese, but for me it was more of a smoked / hickory smell (much more pleasant that a horse barn). The rind was the toughest of the cheeses to date, but as a semi-soft cheese, it gave way under a bit of pressure and the rind itself was still very edible. Timo was pretty harsh on his score (which brought the overall score down) but where Dominic had given it a 5/5, Timo indicated that for him, only goat cheeses were worthy of a 5/5. Well… there you have it!