August 5, 2010

La Fête du Fromage - Tomme de Thônes


I love butter.  Especially the sweet butter from Brittany, the kind with generous amounts of sea salt flakes mixed into it.  Sometimes I think that there's nothing more delicious.
If I wanted to throw caution to the wind (and buy an entirely new wardrobe in a much larger size) I would eat slabs of the stuff every day.

Well, I think I've found something just as delicious as my beloved Brittany butter; Tomme de Thônes, an absolutely heavenly, buttery tasting fromage de vache from the Haute-Savoie.


Tomme de Thônes is a medium strong cheese that offers the luscious flavor combination of rich salty butter, yeast and sweet mountain grasses and flowers.  It is dense, yet quite soft, and melts in your mouth.
Yes, I'm in love.

It paired nicely with a glass of local rosé, but not with our Minervois red.
I think a glass of white from the Savoie would be perfect.

A little something extra:  A short video showing Le Beurre Bordier being produced.  It's much more amusing than it sounds.  I promise!


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4 comments:

Diane said...

I also love butter so I must look out for this cheese. Diane

Jennifer said...

Diane
It's spectacular!

Ken Broadhurst said...

"Sweet" butter, to me, means unsalted. Salted butter, whether beurre salé or beurre demi-sel, is different (but very good and very popular in France right now).

I remember the days (a few decades ago) when beurre demi-sel was considered a regional oddity in Paris, and all the butter sold and served was "sweet." At the time, it was hard to find unsalted butter in the U.S. Funny how things change. Now it's kind of the opposite.

It's like ground coffee vs. whole beans. Back then, you couldn't find beans in the U.S., and you absolutely had to have a grinder in France because you couldn't find decent ground coffee. Now it's all just the opposite.

Jennifer said...

Ken
Even though unsalted butter is referred to as doux, I still think the salted butter has a sweet flavor. That's why I love it - the combo of sweet and salty.
Interesting to hear that this kind of butter was a regional specialty several years ago. There are so many variations available at our local supermarkets.
And the coffee thing - I was really surprised at how difficult it was to find coffee beans in our part of France. We finally found a brand of ground coffee we like and have stuck with it.

Like your new photo! :)