Tête De Moine

Made near the Abbey of Bellelay, in the Swiss Alpes, Tête de Moine is a rich, firm cheese, made from sweet, Alpine milk. The milk is collected from less than ten village dairies in the Jura region, to be made into this exceptional cheese. Washed, brushed and matured on spruce boards for at least two and a half months, the cheese develops a meaty, savoury quality which perfectly balances the buttery sweetness of the mountain milk.
It is traditionally served in shavings cut by a Girolle (see our Curly Whirly machine). The blade sweeping over the surface of the cheese creates beautiful rosettes, which make fabulous aperitifs, but it also aerates the cheese and softens the paste, bringing out the full, glorious flavour of the cheese.
Originally made by the monks of Bellelay in the 12th century, before the recipe was passed to the neighbouring farms, the name Tête de Moine means Monk’s Head.  As the Girolle shaves off the top of the cheese, it begins to resemble the characteristic tonsure of a medieval monk.