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Ingredients for 2, 4 or 6 people:
- Mont d'Or cheese
- Potatoes
- Sliced meats or Saussage
- Pickles
- Clove of garlic
- White wine
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Preparation Time: 15 Minutes
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Cooking Time: 25 Minutes
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Recipe:
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The Mont d'Or Cheese comes in a variety of sizes: 400 g., 800 g. and 1.2 kg (approximately 1, 2 or 3 pounds respectively). Depending on the size, this recipe will feed from 2 to 6 people.
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The Mont d'Or cheese comes in a thin round box. Remove the top of the box and dispose of it. Wrap tinfoil around the outside of the remainder of the cheese box.
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Scoop out the centre of the cheese (with a spoon) and place the scooped out cheese at the edge of the round of cheese. The hole should be about half the depth of the cheese and about a quarter of the width.
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Fill the hole with white wine.
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Finely cut the clove of garlic and place in the hole.
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Wash the potatoes (but don't peel them).
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Place the cheese in an oven at 180º C (444 F) for 25-30 minutes. Start boiling the potatoes, so that they will be cooked at the same time as the cheese. When the cheese is golden brown on top and semi-liquid underneath, it is ready to serve.
Serving:
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While the cheese and potatoes are cooking, place the sliced meat or cooked sausage on a plate and the pickles in a dish. If there is room, place small plates beside the guests (for the potatoe skins).
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Set the table, with a hot plate for the potatoes and cheese. Ideally the cheese should be on a heated hot plate so that it remains warm and liquid.
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When the potatoes and cheese are cooked, place them on the table (on the hot plates). Place a large spoon beside the cheese.
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Serve each guest one or two potatoes. The guests will peel their potatoes (see above note about side-plates for the skins) and then spoon the cheese onto the potatoes and serve themselves meat and pickles. It is expected that the guests will continue to serve themselves through the meal, depending on their appetite.
Notes:
The potatoes are cooked in the skin and then peeled at the table. If they are peeled before cooking they lose some of their taste. Also, it is tradition with this recipe for guests to peel their potatoes at the table. Remember that French food is intended to be eaten at leisure, so guests peeling their potatoes is quite appropriate (for a rustic dish such as this.)
The quantity of ingredients will depend in the number (and hunger) of the guests. Choose a size of cheese, number of potatoes and amount of meat and pickles accordingly.
The recipe traditionally calls for garlic and one can easily use 2 or 3 cloves for the bigger cheeses. However, if one prefers to avoid garlic, a small amount of onion can be used instead.
When my wife and I cook this recipe just for ourselves, we prefer a cooked sausage instead of sliced meat. The 'Morteau' sausage is from the same region at the Mont d'Or cheese and goes exceptionally well with it. Simply place it in a small oven-proof dish with some water and put it in the oven at the same time as the cheese. As the cheese and a Morteau sausage take the same amount of time to cook, this works well. When placing the cheese and potatoes on the table, simply serve the sliced hot sausage instead of (or in addition to) the sliced meats.
History:
Mont d'Or cheese is made from cow's milk in the France Compté region of France, which borders on Switzerland. As the production is around the border of the two countries, it is disputed as to which of the two originated the cheese. Currently, they both produce this type of cheese, with the French version being based on unpasteurised milk and the Swiss being based on pasteurised milk.
In France, due to the use of unpasteurised milk, the cheese is produced only in the fall and winter and is available for sale only during these months. Consequently, it is a seasonal dish, although I find it freezes reasonably well if one wishes to purchase it during the winter and keep it unit the summer. There is another cheese of similar appearance, made from pasteurised milk, which can be purchased during the summer. I greatly prefer the taste of the unpasteurised version.
Mont d'Or has been produced in the France Compté for 200 years and is part of a cheese-making tradition which in this region stretches back to the 12th century. In fact, this region is known throughout France for the quality of its cheese.
It is a AOC cheese. As such there are a number of rules regarding its production. These include the time of production (between 1th August and 31st March), the type of milk used (Montbéliard and Pie Rouge de l'Est cattle), and the location (about 40 villages meet the criteria). There is also a strict procedure regarding the procedure. This includes the use of cloth-lined moulds, encircled by strips of spruce bark (these make up the box in which it is sold, less the cloth) and washed in brine.
The cheese is named after the "Mont d'Or" mountain, approximately in the centre of the area of production of the cheese. Historically it was produced by both the Swiss and the French and called by both "Vacherin Mont d'Or". However, despite the use of this name by both countries, the Swiss took steps to acquire the legal right to this name in 1973. Since then the French have called their version of this cheese "Vacherin de Haut-Doubs" (after the Haut-Doubs department, where the French cheese is produced) or simply "Mont d'Or".
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