09:54h in Poligny: Arrival at the world headquarters of Comté cheese at La Maison du Comté. Upon entering the building, the visitor is subjected to a simulation of sound effects playing overhead (which I guess is intended to simulate being out on the land). More accurately, it sounds as if a cow got lost in the Amazon jungle rather than out on a local farm.
My attention is quickly diverted to a giant wall-sized map of France, which pinpoints the 15 Comté aging facilities in the region (there is a 25 kilometer limit for farms to deliver milk to the dairy for processing into cheese). As alluded to by Taz yesterday, this terroir model is being studied by other food producers around the world, and La Maison is where they come to learn more.
We sit through a kid-friendly five minute video on the origins and history of the cheese (the mascot is exceptionally creepy). We then venture through a quick tour of the museum on to cheese tasting with Claire. As learned yesterday, what the cows eat will affect the flavor of the cheese and even the color of the milk will be affected by different carotene levels depending on season.
My attention is quickly diverted to a giant wall-sized map of France, which pinpoints the 15 Comté aging facilities in the region (there is a 25 kilometer limit for farms to deliver milk to the dairy for processing into cheese). As alluded to by Taz yesterday, this terroir model is being studied by other food producers around the world, and La Maison is where they come to learn more.
We sit through a kid-friendly five minute video on the origins and history of the cheese (the mascot is exceptionally creepy). We then venture through a quick tour of the museum on to cheese tasting with Claire. As learned yesterday, what the cows eat will affect the flavor of the cheese and even the color of the milk will be affected by different carotene levels depending on season.
During the tasting, the selection of five cheeses were aged as young as nine months up to a more premium 24 months. The exercise helped to point out the differences in texture, color, smell, and taste, as some appeared lighter – which, like the milk, all depended on the season and diet of the cow at the time of milking.
11:25h: Off we go upstairs to the main conference room where we sit in on an info session about the marketing and business relations for Comté cheese.
The process of cheese making is a fascinating craft, but beyond the physical labor is a unique, highly-regulated business structure, the terroir model, enforced to control the level of production. Her main duties are to oversee the regulations of the cheese (such as making sure there are no copies and authenticating the cheeses via casein plate) and to market to cheese to consumers throughout the world.
The representatives found difficulty in marketing the product, as the connection to the Jura – seeing and experiencing the full process of cheese making – is erased for the consumer; it is their job to determine what aspects appeal to the market – taste, tradition, time, and the pride of the cheese producers, or other aspects.
In a further effort to control levels of production, if a dairy wishes to produce additional cheese beyond their estimations, the producer must pay 10 times the amount of a casein plate (around 4.65€) for each additional wheel of cheese, thus discouraging excess production. Comté cheese is marketed in five major geographic locations where it is exported in considerable amounts.
One fascinating anecdote was that, with evolution of generations, "traditional" French families, especially in metropolitan areas, are forgoing the cheese plate as mainstay during mealtime, thus the market for cheese in France has actually decreased slightly in recent years.
The process of cheese making is a fascinating craft, but beyond the physical labor is a unique, highly-regulated business structure, the terroir model, enforced to control the level of production. Her main duties are to oversee the regulations of the cheese (such as making sure there are no copies and authenticating the cheeses via casein plate) and to market to cheese to consumers throughout the world.
The representatives found difficulty in marketing the product, as the connection to the Jura – seeing and experiencing the full process of cheese making – is erased for the consumer; it is their job to determine what aspects appeal to the market – taste, tradition, time, and the pride of the cheese producers, or other aspects.
In a further effort to control levels of production, if a dairy wishes to produce additional cheese beyond their estimations, the producer must pay 10 times the amount of a casein plate (around 4.65€) for each additional wheel of cheese, thus discouraging excess production. Comté cheese is marketed in five major geographic locations where it is exported in considerable amounts.
One fascinating anecdote was that, with evolution of generations, "traditional" French families, especially in metropolitan areas, are forgoing the cheese plate as mainstay during mealtime, thus the market for cheese in France has actually decreased slightly in recent years.
13:40h in Arbois: Lunch is at Le Bistro des Claquets, where every dish had pork – just because it is what was available today. Pretty sure the wine had pork in it too. I did mention earlier that in recent years I am more open to trying new things...but not everything. I have not developed the courage or the interest in trying gelatinous mix of parts of an animal’s head.
The plat was decent: "nuggets" of pork over a bed of rice with steamed vegetables, though the vegetables were the best part. Dessert was a fresh, but sour yogurt with a raspberry sauce mixed in. At the very least it tasted like it just came from the cow.
15:03h in Poligny: Arrival at Entremont cheese ager – the largest of the Comté agers. When combining the three facilities of Entremont, the ager holds around 100,000 wheels and can process about 1.5 million wheels per year – all from 40 different fruitières. The ager acts as the third stop in the Comté cheese-making process, after the farm and dairy. After the cheeses pass through the aging facility they are sent to a separate location for packaging before being sold in markets.
Our group was warned about the odor before arrival – if I ever return, a scarf or gas mask would be necessary attire. Normally the brain should get used to odors, but in this facility, one room smells harsher than the other. The initial odor was quite strong and undesirable. Each cellar had a different musk depending on temperature and point in the cheese-aging process.
The different cellars were similar in that the vast halls were filled floor-to-ceiling with Comté. According to Eric Chevalier, the assistant cheese ager at Entremont, there are around 2,000 wheels per row. The wheels must be flipped, but to do so by hand would involve a massive amount of manual labor, which is why a special robot was introduced.
The robot is Entremont’s most-efficient employee as Chevalier put it; it never takes a day off – working 24/7 flipping and rubbing about 100 wheels per hour. The salt-rubbing of the cheeses occurs 2-3 times per week and continues for 4-5 weeks. By using "modern traditions" of robots, the Comté producers do not consider this as being deceptive since man is still omnipresent in the process of making cheese – additionally, each ager would perform their brushing process differently than how another ager would, which is important is it can affect the environment in which the essential microorganisms grow. When newer cheeses arrive at the facility, the ager will use water that was previously used to wash older cheeses to bathe the newer ones in the "magic potion" used by a particular ager.
Even a detail such as the wood is important. The spruce planks allow for the proper humidity – if the shelves were made of plastic, according to Chevalier, the cheeses would not receive the adequate moisture and simply rot. Temperature plays an important role, as each aging room has a different temperature ("cool" cellar at 6° C versus the 12º C "warm" cellar). The air is constantly circulated as the temperature must be the same from the top to the bottom so the cheeses can mature evenly.
The cold cellar had, in my opinion, the harshest odor of all. It simply would not dissipate, as I tried my best to hold my breath or breathe through my clothing. The cheeses in this room appeared much differently than those in the other cellars – with a darker brown, crustier skin – and thus nearly complete in the aging process.
At this point the cheese ager shows off his true expertise. Chevalier uses multiple senses in determining if there are "defects" in the cheese. He taps the wheels – one per "group" of cheeses – and listens for different pitches, which can inform him of defects, such as breaks or holes in the wheel. He will then take samples of the wheels and inspect the appearance, texture, and taste – which was difficult for our group to decipher, but easier for Chevalier, as he is the expert. Any wheels that are deemed to be faulty are marked differently.
15:03h in Poligny: Arrival at Entremont cheese ager – the largest of the Comté agers. When combining the three facilities of Entremont, the ager holds around 100,000 wheels and can process about 1.5 million wheels per year – all from 40 different fruitières. The ager acts as the third stop in the Comté cheese-making process, after the farm and dairy. After the cheeses pass through the aging facility they are sent to a separate location for packaging before being sold in markets.
Our group was warned about the odor before arrival – if I ever return, a scarf or gas mask would be necessary attire. Normally the brain should get used to odors, but in this facility, one room smells harsher than the other. The initial odor was quite strong and undesirable. Each cellar had a different musk depending on temperature and point in the cheese-aging process.
The different cellars were similar in that the vast halls were filled floor-to-ceiling with Comté. According to Eric Chevalier, the assistant cheese ager at Entremont, there are around 2,000 wheels per row. The wheels must be flipped, but to do so by hand would involve a massive amount of manual labor, which is why a special robot was introduced.
The robot is Entremont’s most-efficient employee as Chevalier put it; it never takes a day off – working 24/7 flipping and rubbing about 100 wheels per hour. The salt-rubbing of the cheeses occurs 2-3 times per week and continues for 4-5 weeks. By using "modern traditions" of robots, the Comté producers do not consider this as being deceptive since man is still omnipresent in the process of making cheese – additionally, each ager would perform their brushing process differently than how another ager would, which is important is it can affect the environment in which the essential microorganisms grow. When newer cheeses arrive at the facility, the ager will use water that was previously used to wash older cheeses to bathe the newer ones in the "magic potion" used by a particular ager.
Even a detail such as the wood is important. The spruce planks allow for the proper humidity – if the shelves were made of plastic, according to Chevalier, the cheeses would not receive the adequate moisture and simply rot. Temperature plays an important role, as each aging room has a different temperature ("cool" cellar at 6° C versus the 12º C "warm" cellar). The air is constantly circulated as the temperature must be the same from the top to the bottom so the cheeses can mature evenly.
The cold cellar had, in my opinion, the harshest odor of all. It simply would not dissipate, as I tried my best to hold my breath or breathe through my clothing. The cheeses in this room appeared much differently than those in the other cellars – with a darker brown, crustier skin – and thus nearly complete in the aging process.
At this point the cheese ager shows off his true expertise. Chevalier uses multiple senses in determining if there are "defects" in the cheese. He taps the wheels – one per "group" of cheeses – and listens for different pitches, which can inform him of defects, such as breaks or holes in the wheel. He will then take samples of the wheels and inspect the appearance, texture, and taste – which was difficult for our group to decipher, but easier for Chevalier, as he is the expert. Any wheels that are deemed to be faulty are marked differently.
The final part of aging, before the cheeses are sent to the packaging facilities, involves affixing a label to the wheels. Most are green – receiving a rating of 15-20 and sometimes referred to as "Comté Extra" – while others are brown (rated 12-15). The cheeses are rated based on the combination of quality of the cheese, appearance, and texture. Any cheese which receives a score below 12 is forbidden from using the Comté name (though it can be used in cooking products).
Overall the cheese making process is quite delicate – one in which every link in the process plays as important a role in affecting the final outcome. The milk, for example, can affect the amount in which the cheese sags over the aging process. From what I gather, with no additives (other than the rennet), the cheese obtains most of its flavor during the aging process as the salt from the rubbing process interacts with the enzyme and microorganisms on the surface of the cheeses to alter the flavor of the "meat" as time passes.
Overall the cheese making process is quite delicate – one in which every link in the process plays as important a role in affecting the final outcome. The milk, for example, can affect the amount in which the cheese sags over the aging process. From what I gather, with no additives (other than the rennet), the cheese obtains most of its flavor during the aging process as the salt from the rubbing process interacts with the enzyme and microorganisms on the surface of the cheeses to alter the flavor of the "meat" as time passes.
18:10h in Arbois: Visit to Hirsinger Chocolates. This family-run chocolate boutique has been in business since 1900 and is known for its specialty concoctions with the truffles. The girls on the trip were in heaven, thus I waited outside rather than being in the middle of the commotion. The chocolate I did taste was similar to a fudge, and while smooth, it was not necessarily something which would entice me to keep coming back.
20:00h at the Gîte: I awake from an all-too-brief nap, not in the mood to communicate; these long days and early mornings are things my body is not used to. After taking a seat on the outside picnic table, I find a cup of vibrant green liquid in front of me. Half asleep, it takes me a second to remember that tonight is snail night.
I was no “snail virgin”, yet I had only timidly tried them in Paris – and certainly could not get used to the idea of ingesting a slimy, dirty ground-dweller, a creature that I have associated in the same category as lizards and roaches. My perception of snails is not unlike those from the United States: snails are simply not to be eaten; they are not part of the standard American diet and the thought of the French indulging in them is rather barbaric.
The aroma from the warm broth is unexpectedly soothing, allowing me to gradually arise from my partial slumber. There is heavily garlic, mushroom (almost a cream of mushroom-like consistency), escargots, what looks like coarse salt, and the stinging nettles plant – a local wild-growing plant used in many soups.
All of my attention is concentrated on the soup, as my dinner mates are sharing silly anecdotes of my seemingly grumpy, unwillingly mood and demeanor (I could have done without the grievances of political views, personal opinions, or unsolicited advice on education or eating).
I just wanted to enjoy my damn meal. And I did. I went for an encore: a second serving of snail.
I was no “snail virgin”, yet I had only timidly tried them in Paris – and certainly could not get used to the idea of ingesting a slimy, dirty ground-dweller, a creature that I have associated in the same category as lizards and roaches. My perception of snails is not unlike those from the United States: snails are simply not to be eaten; they are not part of the standard American diet and the thought of the French indulging in them is rather barbaric.
The aroma from the warm broth is unexpectedly soothing, allowing me to gradually arise from my partial slumber. There is heavily garlic, mushroom (almost a cream of mushroom-like consistency), escargots, what looks like coarse salt, and the stinging nettles plant – a local wild-growing plant used in many soups.
All of my attention is concentrated on the soup, as my dinner mates are sharing silly anecdotes of my seemingly grumpy, unwillingly mood and demeanor (I could have done without the grievances of political views, personal opinions, or unsolicited advice on education or eating).
I just wanted to enjoy my damn meal. And I did. I went for an encore: a second serving of snail.
The next course of salad was…snail-filled. The variety of snail in this dish was jarred and flavored – very smoky, too much so for my preference, even though I went through five or six. The main course consisted of classically-served in-shell snails, cooked with butter and herbs. Placing this in lightly buttered, flat-noodle pasta was a marvelous suggestion. The experience was enjoyable, just as it was for the two "snail virgins" at the table did as well.
After the meal was a presentation on snail production by Anne-Catherine Bonvalot where she discussed the details of snail farming, snail hibernation, and the starvation process before the "painless slaughter" of dumping the creatures in boiling water. Anne-Catherine also informed us of the many different ways of preparing the snails beyond what we had (she prepares snails with vin Jaune during the holidays, for instance, as her own use of the terroir).
Anne-Catherine’s farm must be put through same tests as other meat products for bacterial components and is inspected about once per year. If snail farming was highlighted in the marketing of snail food products, I do believe it could lead to more interest form an international perspective, certainly less trepidation. For instance, I was unaware that the snails are removed and cleaned before being placed back in the shell (which is primarily used as decoration). That certainly eased the mind a bit, as it is one element which may not be considered by a snail novice. Of course, the copious amounts of wine consumed surely helped to get over the inital fear of consuming such beings
Anne-Catherine’s farm must be put through same tests as other meat products for bacterial components and is inspected about once per year. If snail farming was highlighted in the marketing of snail food products, I do believe it could lead to more interest form an international perspective, certainly less trepidation. For instance, I was unaware that the snails are removed and cleaned before being placed back in the shell (which is primarily used as decoration). That certainly eased the mind a bit, as it is one element which may not be considered by a snail novice. Of course, the copious amounts of wine consumed surely helped to get over the inital fear of consuming such beings