It's December...so it must be that time of year again!

Vacherin Mont d'Or

Christmas is on it's way and one of my favourite cheeses at this time of the year comes in to production, Vacherin Mont d’Or which is an exquisite washed-rind cow’s milk cheese from the Jura Mountains in France.

Only made in the winter months and perfectly timed for Christmas, it is presented in a spruce-wood box that keeps the cheese from oozing all over the place. You need to use a spoon to get it safely on to your fresh baguette!

Vacherin Mont d'Or is a special seasonal cheese produced in both France and Switzerland and is only available between mid-September and March. The cheese is made from the winter milk of cows that have been brought down from their pastures for the season. It is related to other mountain cheeses such as Emmental and Gruyere, but made in much smaller rounds and also treated differently, so that the cheese is almost liquid when fully ripe. The perfect dessert cheese, which is often served at the end of a meal with a light red or white wine. But ideally, and my favourite, is fantastic heated and eaten smooth, creamy and warm, as a main course especially when it is a cold evening.

Vacherin Mont d'Or comes in a special round box. When the cheese is taken out, it in enclosed by a birch strip called a sangle, and a velvety red rind. To eat the cheese, it is recommended that it be allowed to breath at room temperature for several hours before carving off the inedible rind and scooping out the soft cheese inside. Vacherin Mont d'Or is a very delicate cheese, and should be kept very cold in storage before being consumed.

This is a traditional way to eat this special cheese.


You need one Mont d’Or cheese in its little box, white wine and 2 cloves of garlic. Boiled potatoes (still in the skin) and a good selection of cured meats and salamis, cured ham such as Parma, coppa, for example.

Carefully scrape and lift off the top crust/rind of the cheese. Peel and slice the garlic cloves and press the slivers of garlic into the cheese. Sprinkle the surface of the cheese with a tablespoon of white wine. You can also add some pieces of rosermary scattered over as well if you wish.

Place the box with the prepared cheese on to a sheet of foil and then place it on a baking sheet, wrap the foil up over the box of cheese and bake for about 20 minutes. The cheese should be hot throughout, creamy and runny.

Eat right away while still hot: spoon out the gooey cheese onto slices or chunks of the boiled potatoes and fork up with some of the cured meat. Serve with white wine and a crusty baguette.

Bon appetit!