Comté Cheese

Each summer I get itchy feet and a longing to return to the Jura, near the Swiss border in France. Not just for the relaxation or the scenery, or even the French lifestyle, but because this is an area that really understands about cheese. The undulating hills, mountains and meadows are home to many cheese communes. At the peak of many hills there is a cheese factory, supplied by the surrounding lower lying farms. Beautiful soft eyed cows graze on the rolling, lush pastures of the Jura landscape, their gentle bells tolling away the sunny hours and the resulting milk is rich and creamy. And from these cows comes the delicious delicacy that is Comt cheese. Only these adorable cows of the Montb liard breed of are authorised to produce milk used for making Comt . After a strenuous day of picnicking and listening to the dulcet tones of cow bells, I love to visit the cheese commune and buy cheese made from cows I have smiled at during the day.

Comt comes from many cows in many pastures, so no cheese is the same. Each one is totally delicious and each is slightly different. From fruity to salty to mild, each cheese will have its own character and flavour. This is because production of Comt is controlled and regulated by the Comt Technical Committee (CTC) who ensure that the right cows, grazing only in the Jura, give the right quality of un-pasteurised milk, and that the cheese has been carefully matured for at least four months.

When I was younger I could only get my hands on this mouth-watering substance on holiday, but now it is more widely available in most large supermarkets and many good quality delicatessens. (Tesco price this at around £13.99/kg.) A large round wheel of a cheese, it mainly appears in shops sliced into wedges, and it is rare to find a whole one over here.

There are two grades of Comt distinguishable by a brown or green stripe on the outside of the rind. Each cheese is marked on taste and appearance out of a possible twenty points. To get a coveted green stripe a cheese has to earn over fifteen points. Between that and twelve points it gets a brown stripe. Any less points and it's fondue time for the poor cheese - lower quality cheeses are sent off to made into ready made fondue preparations. The age (as long is it is over four months) and the variety of flavour is not taken into account for this grading.

The grading is pretty immaterial to me, except when I am feeling snobby and want the posher stripe, as every time I have eaten this cheese it has been thoroughly delectable. The time of year the milk was collected also has a bearing on the flavour. In the summertime the grass is lush and thick, so the resultant milk is particularly creamy, and the cheese has a deeper, richer tang to it. But the winter cheese is just as good, more subtle and with a slight hint of hay scent, which sounds odd, but is so reminiscent of summer walks in the pastures that I can't help but be transported back to gentler days.

It is very hard to sum up this cheese's flavour in a few words as each mouthful has so many tones and underlying tastes, as would be expected from such a natural product. Sometimes there is a faint fruity undercurrent or a roasted nuttiness, but overall it is a mild cheese. The texture of this solid cheese is smooth, with occasionally a slight grittiness that melts divinely on the tongue, as well as in cooking.

Not only is Comt lusciously scrumptious, it is good for you too (in moderation of course, like all things)! In one hundred grams there is a third of the daily recommended amount of calcium for an adult; it has a high Calcium/Phosphorus ratio, which is good for growing kids, elderly bods and pregnant ladies. High in vitamins C and A and low in salt, makes this a very good addition to throw into your salad. The strict regulations in force make certain that the land the charming cows graze upon is low in interference; less pesticides and less unnatural fertilisation, making this a very natural and animal friendly foodstuff.

Comt is a mild flavoured, yet strong cheese that works well both raw and cooked as a traditional fondue ingredient. I often enjoy a platter of cubed Comt with crudit s and crusty bread as a snack or light meal, served with a glass of crisp white wine, or even more evocative of my holidays; a yellow wine from the Jura. If I have the time I occasionally make a cheese and potato pie; involving more preparation and faffing about than a fondue, it is a lovely warm comfort food:

INGREDIENTS:

Sufficient pastry to cover the baking pan

7 oz thinly sliced onions

8 small potatoes peeled and sliced

10 oz tomato passatta

6 oz Comt cheese, diced

3 oz butter to cook the vegetables

7 oz double or whipped cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Wine - preferably white

METHOD:

Open wine and taste. Continue tasting at regular intervals in the cooking process.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5.

Wash the potatoes and dry the potatoes.

Gently saut the potatoes in a heavy based pan until pale gold. Cover the pan and simmer until tender but slightly firm - don't let them over cook and go mushy. This usually takes about twenty minutes.

Roll out the pastry to fit your chosen pie tin and place it on a greased baking tray. Bake until cooked and lightly golden.

In the pie tin place the onions, then Comt , then the potatoes and top with pie crust.

Pop it back in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Slather the cream over the top and serve hot.

So either uncooked in summer as part of a salad or cold platter, or cooked in winter, this cheese brings me very happy memories of lazy, hazy, hot summer days listening to those cow bells.