Spreadable cheese that makes me happy

Vacherin (from the french word vache meaning cow) is a soft spreadable cheese commonly found in France and Switzerland. The Swiss variety is called Vacherin Mont d’Or, and the French usually known simply as Mont d’Or. Well, then there’s the harder variety called Vacherin Fribourgeois, but that’s another story. For now, let’s stick with the Mont d’Or.

I bought an organic Mont d’Or. The spoon is easily shoved down the cheese, and it’s content spread on a piece of bread. It reminds me of a mild camembert, and has a wonderful creamy texture, on the verge of being liquid. The French like putting it in the oven for a couple of minutes, liquifying the cheese and then dipping bread into it. The Mont d’Or is traditionally made from raw-milk (i.e none pasteurized), meaning the good stuff isn’t legally available in the US. That hasn’t stopped American cheese lovers from getting their hands on this and many other raw-milk cheeses. The FDA ban on raw-milk cheese applies to sellers, not to buyers.  So if you’re lucky, you’ll get a hold of a cheese dealer in some dark alley that can sell it to you.

Mont d’Or, by the way, is the name of a mountain in France called Mountain d’Or meaning golden mountain. The name, however, is a misconception. The etymologic story behind the name is that the French heard Celts calling the mountain “dwr” (which means water in celtic) but to the French sounded like d’Or meaning “of gold”.

Enough with the history lesson. This cheese is fantastic.