Definitely in our top 10 favourite cheeses. Reblochon is a washed rind, raw cow’s milk cheese made in the Savoie area of France. Creamy, rich, soft and nutty in flavour it’s delicious on the cheeseboard and an essential ingredient in the famous French dish Tartiflette (a mixture of cooked potatoes, lardons, white wine and Reblochon cheese baked in the oven).
In the past, mountain farmers were taxed upon milk production and to avoid paying tax they only partly milked their cattle. When the landowners had left, the farmers would remilk or ‘reblocher’ their cows and it was this, rich, creamy milk that was made into the famous cheese. It’s an appellation cheese (since 1958) which means that the method of production is strictly controlled.
Only three breeds of cattle can produce the milk for Reblochon; Abondance, Montbeliarde and Tarine. They must be grazed for a minimum of 150 days in the mountains and no silage is permitted. Each cheese bears a stamp made from casein (a natural component of milk). A red stamp is used for larger scale production where there may be a degree of mechanisation and the milk of several herds of cattle while a green stamp for smaller, more artisanal production indicates that no mechanisation has been used and it could be the cheese from a single herd or farm. These stamps guarantee the origin and production of the product and can easily be traced back to an individual producer.
It takes 4 litres of milk to produce one standard Reblochon cheese.
For more information about Reblochon cheese take a look at the Reblochon de Savoie website here.
