Vacherin Mont d’Or

Ever wonder what mountain dairy farmers do when the snows arrive? In the western Swiss Alps, they make cheese.

Vacherin Mont d’Or is another of those varieties from French-speaking Switzerland that has producers on either side of the border. Thanks to some aggressive legal maneuvering, the Swiss version has become the standard, name-controlled offering (the French go by the name Vacherin du Haut-Doubs).

The vast majority of mountain cheeses use milk drawn during the spring and summer. Vacherin, however, is produced in the dead of winter. This triumph of necessity dates back to the days when the elements made milk and cheese distribution all but impossible in the high Alps during the frigid months.

The cows are fed a special concoction of cold-weather food: hay, grains, and autumn vegetation. That diet produces milk of an entirely different flavor than what a meadow yields in summertime. The Swiss use pasteurized milk, while the French still make it with raw milk.

Produced in five- to seven-pound wheels, the young rounds are tied together with the bark of an evergreen tree. The resin in the wood seeps into the cheese, adding a woodsy taste and aroma to the overarching creaminess.

Vacherin is a creamy, runny cheese. If it feels a bit firm to the touch, let it mature. When it’s ripe, it’s soft enough to eat with a spoon.

PAIRINGS: In the Alps, it’s custom to sprinkle cumin seeds over Vacherin, then serve it up with bread, boiled potatoes and a crisp, light white wine. The traditional way is to slice off the top part of the rind, then scoop out the runny paste.