tête de moine

The cylindrical shaped Tête de Moine Cheese, which means "monk's head", has been produced in Switzerland for more than 8 centuries.  Aged 3-6 months, this hard cooked, alpine style cheese, has a washed rined post make, and then it is dry brushed. This unique cheese is traditionally shaved into thin, rosette shaped slices rather than being sliced by hand with a knife - a special device called a "Girolle" is used to simply shave the cheese from the top, thin layer by thin layer.  Shaving the cheese in this fashion allows its flavours to fully develop; the delicate rosettes boast a very fine consistency, which will melt in your mouth.  Texturally it is dense, with an intense, fruity, sweet flavour, and it pairs well with a Beaujolais.  Production of Tete de Moine is the result of the collective cooperation of 245 dairy farms, 8 cheese dairies, and 2 affineurs (refineries), who use modern procedures, but they work according to traditional and more time-consuming methods than those used for industrial cheese production.