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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Tommette de Vache and Fourme d'Ambert

Tommette de Vache and Fourme d'Ambert were the two cheeses selected this week for our continuing celebration of French cheese.

I bought the Tommette de Vache from a small market stall this morning. It's a simple, unpasteurized, fermier, cow's milk cheese produced in the Savoie and Haut-Savoie.
I loved this cheese! Its aroma is sweet and nutty and its flavor is slightly salty, very buttery and reminiscent of Beaufort.
A nice, dry white wine would be a good accompaniment.

Fourme d'Ambert is one of France's oldest cheeses and is known as its mildest blue cheese. It comes from the volcanic Auvergne region where it is shaped into tall cylinders, injected with mold, then left to mature in humid caves. Made from cow's milk, it has a dry rind and a firm and dense, yet creamy texture, so it doesn't crumble like many blue cheeses. Its aroma is earthy and nutty and its flavor brings to mind fruit and mushrooms. It was very nice but wasn't as interesting as Blue de Basque or Bleu de Gex.
Enjoy some fruity red wine such as Beaujolais or a sweet white such as Sauternes with Fourme d'Ambert.


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