Cooking with Comté Cheese
Comté Cheese is now one of my favourite cheeses from France since I was introduced to it. I especially like the aged ones, at least 12 months and has to be made with summer milk (usually darker yellow in colour). It starts to get a deeper flavour as it age and every bite has a little crunch from the crystals that have formed. Not unlike an aged Parmigiano Reggiano.
We recently did a cooking lesson where we made 2 recipes using Comté Cheese. The first one here is the Twice-baked Spinach & Comté soufflés. I have made cheese soufflés only a couple of time in my life and always live in fear of it collapsing. If you want to impress your guests at a dinner party, try this recipe. You can make them ahead of time and not have to worry about them collapsing.
The second recipe we made is even simpler. An Onion tart with apples, bacon & Comté Cheese, recipe here. It’s quick and simple and so deilicous. You must give this a go.
What is Comté Cheese?
Comté is a French PDO cheese (Protected Designation of Origin), made in the Massif du Jura region of France, and has been for over 1,000 years. Montbéliarde and French Simmental are the only cows allowed for the production of Comté milk.
They must only be fed with natural feed and have at least 2.5 acres of grazing pasture. Comté’s methods of production are still based on the original co-operative approach and artisan traditions. Over 2700 family farms are dedicated to producing the highest quality of raw milk.
Every day, Comté is crafted in around 153 small village cheese dairies, called fruitières, before moving to one of the 16 maturing cellars. Because of its versatility and ability to melt easily, Comté can be added to all kinds of recipes, giving every single one of them a naturally unique flavour. Comté is also one of the few cheeses that pairs well with a wide range of red and white wines.
Recently, I visited the Jura region to see how this cheese was made last year. It is a truly artisanal product made with the best Alpine milk from these gorgeous Montbeliard cows.
Comté Cheese is a hard cows milk cheese that is very versatile. Not only can you use it for cooking, it should be the star of cheese boards.
Places to buy Comté Cheese in London
The best place to buy Comté in London is in Borough Market as they stock our favourite Cheese maker, Marcel Petitte. They have enormous wheels of Comté on their stand and it is stamped with the cheesemaker’s name. They sell different ages of Comté too. While you are, do a little taste test and you will understand why this cheese is just superior to others like it. Alternatively, you can buy your nearest cheese shop, Waitrose and selected delis. Unfortunately, it is not as easily available as other more well known cheeses.
You can learn more about how Comté is made, the artisans that make it and why it is one of France’s favourite cheese on their website
EatCookExplore was a guest of Comté Cheese at this cooking class.
