Miles Collins

My cheese of the month…

Today I decided that ‘Tete de Moine’ or ‘Monks Head’ cheese is my new favourite. It has faced some stiff competition in recent weeks from one or two closer to home but this Swiss number beat the lot.

I recall mentioning some time back that we put this cheese on as an alternative to cheese and biscuits. Xavier, my French pastry chef suggested serving it in true Frenchy country style with some warm, crusty baguette and a pile of pickled red cabbage. A light caraway vinaigrette brings the lot together in one harmonious ‘Vive la Tete!’

The Swiss are not exactly highly regarded in elite cheese making circles, they seem to come slightly above Holland and say, Austria or Puerto Rico but some way off the French and the Brits. That said, when it comes to cheesy grills or ‘toastbrot’ as they say in those parts they’re high up the mountain. As much as I dislike the stench of raclette it does work very well with potatoes, salami, bread etc.

Tete de Moine is made in the Bernese Jura area of Switzerland, originally it was made in Bellelay Abbey during the summer to be sold in the winter and was known as ‘Bellelay’ until the French Revolution changed all of that and the monks levied a hefty tax of one cheese per farmer per year.

Traditionally, the cheese is cut on a ‘girolle’, an attractive appliance which shaves the cheese into thin slices with frilly edges. The traditional flavouring is a sprinkle of pepper and cumin but I shall stick with the caraway. Well, actually I am lying because I am taking it off the menu, it doesn’t sell!!  Bloody Swiss…..