Last month on Les Route du Comte we visited two Fruitieres where the milk of the farmer-members is co-mingled and the second magic begins: making Comte AOP Cheese. The two facilities were vastly different. One, Fruitiere de la Brune, is a bare bones operation in a facility built in the 19th Century and in a rural area. Fruitiere de Bonnetage, is a community hub, in the heart of the village, that included a full-service cheese shop, local honeys, mustard, smoked meats, souvenirs and a post office.
You can purchase a selection of Comte AOP by clicking here.
This Cow “Moo-er” was one of my purchases at Fruitiere de Bonnetage (I also purchased honey and a Comte Farm set – ala Lincoln Logs – for one of my grands.) Bonnetage also makes butter from the cream skimmed in the cheesemaking process.
As mentioned in the last posting, a fruitiere is a cooperative-style group of local farmers (usually between 10-15) who form an association and share their milk to make cheese for the PDO, the Comte Association (the BIG Comte). The farmers own shares in the fruitiere, the number of shares and voting rights determined by milk yield.
The primary cheese made is Comte AOP. The PDO regulates the number of wheels each fruitiere can produce annually by issuing green cards which must be attached to each wheel of Comte AOP. If the fruitiere has more milk than the allotment will allow, they may make Morbier AOP, Raclette or a local tomme, which is generally a recipe specific to each fruitiere’s cheesemaker. Those tommes will be sold locally by the fruitiere and seldom (probably never) exported.
The Cheesemaker and his staff are employees of the fruitiere who own no shares and have no voting rights. However, that does not diminish their importance in the “food chain” of Comte AOP. It takes years of training, interning along with knowledge and instinct to become a Cheesemaker. With the PDO regulations being so specific, the art of cheesemaking is tantamount to the success of the fruitiere. It also entails a lot of paperwork that must be submitted to the PDO upon request.
The milk is collected daily from each farm and delivered to the fruitiere. At each farm, the driver, often the Cheesemaker, takes a sample of milk which is tested at the fruitiere. The quality of the milk is closely monitored to ensure the highest quality cheese.
The milk for making Comte AOP is never chilled after the milking. The Cheesemaker gathers the milk every evening for the following day’s make. The milk becomes cheese within 24 hours.
You can purchase a selection of Comte AOP by clicking here.
At the fruitiere, the Cheesemaker partially skims the milk and warms it to 30 Degrees C (85 degrees F) in large copper kettles. (The copper kettles are mandatory per the PDO; there is a chemical reaction between the milk and the copper that is necessary to coax the flavor profiles the PDO wants.)
Several years ago while at Roth Cheese in Wisconsin, I learned that the FDA had problems with copper vats, believing that only stainless steel was safe. The FDA refused to approve their use until Roth Cheese took a few FDA employees to Switzerland to watch the making of Gruyere. After learning why the copper kettles were needed, the FDA relented and issued a “waiver” for Roth to use copper. This was 2009, by now I would think the waiver has been lifted and copper kettles are the norm for making Alpine-style cheeses in the US. To quote Spaulding Gray, “those government rat ass bastards just can’t help themselves… always trying to save us from ourselves”… but I digress…
While warming the milk the Cheesemaker adds a lactic starter and lets the milk ripen for half an hour. Coloring and additives are strictly prohibited per the PDO. Once the milk has ripened the Cheesemaker adds rennet made from a calves’ fourth stomach and whey saved from the previous day. Under the watchful eye of the Cheesemaker, the curd begins to form and when it reaches the right “moment”, the Cheesemaker cuts the curd using a cheese harp to separate the curd and the whey. At this point, the Cheesemaker slowly begins to warm the curd to 55 degrees C (130 degrees F). The heating is done to dry the grains of curd and extract as much liquid as possible. A side benefit of the heating of the curd is that it starts the “melting” process helps make Comte AOP an excellent cooking cheese.
The Cheesemaker works from both knowledge, experience and instinct, knowing when the grains are the right size and the correct consistency. At this point, the contents are pumped into perforated moulds that allow the whey to drain off, leaving the curd to continue its journey to become Comte AOP.
The whey has several uses: it may be fed to the local pigs, which in turn become local meats sold by the Fruitiere. It may also be sold to become powders. The whey protein is used in many health food items. In the early part of this decade, whey production came close to outpacing cheese production. The whey from Parmigiano-Reggiano production is fed to the pigs that become Prosciutto de Parma.
As the pressing is about to begin, the Cheesemaker adds the PDO “green card”, made of casein, to the side of the wheel. A plate with the date of production is also affixed to each wheel. The wheels are transferred to the press where they remain a few hours before being transferred to the Fruitiere’s aging facility. From here they will await transfer to the aging facility where they will “live” for a minimum of four months and as long as thirty-six.
You can purchase a selection of Comte AOP by clicking here.
While in the aging facility of the Fruitiere, the wheels are washed, brushed and turned on a schedule as outlined in the PDO and according to the Cheesemaker’s knowledge, experience and instincts. After about two weeks, the wheels are transferred to one of the thirteen aging facilities and handed off to the Affineurs who will care and prepare the wheels for market.
Next article I’ll deep dive into the aging process and the crucial role of the Affineurs.
I’ll be at Blue Haven Bee next Saturday 8/24 from 1 to 6pm with my cheese plates. I’ll be showcasing my new fig spreads made from Jan Taylor’s figs and made using bourbon or Lillet. As always the plates will be $10. Also available will be my Creamy Cheddar and Spicy Pimento Cheese Spreads.
In addition to being an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.
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