Comté cheese is a raw, partially skimmed cow's milk cheese with a soft, creamy texture.
Comté cheese is made in the traditional way, from the raw milk of French Montbéliarde or Simmentale cows. The cows are fed exclusively on grass and hay.
Fermented products are not allowed in the dairy herd's diet. The farming system for this Jura cheese is extensive. The rind of Comté cheese is grainy on the surface and can be golden yellow to brown.
The cheese wheel is cylindrical in shape and 8 to 13 cm high, with a straight or slightly rounded heel and a weight of 30 to 48 kg. The variability of the maturing period of Comté cheese means that at any time on the market it is possible to obtain Comté cheeses from different seasons.
The summer Comté cheeses have more diverse and fruity aromas, while the winter Comté cheeses (light-coloured) are characterised by more pronounced hazelnut, vegetable or roasted nuances.
Choosing a Comté cheese :
It is not possible to sum up in a few words the incredible diversity of taste that characterises Comté. Some are indeed saltier than others, some are very sweet, very milky, others very rich in roasted aromas, but no single word can capture the subtlety of each aromatic bouquet.
It is always a pity to hear Comté cheese presented by its eternal qualifiers (fruity, salty, sweet) but perhaps it should be admitted that certain emotions, certain experiences are lived much more than told.
Summer Comté or winter Comté?
Summer Comté is recognisable by its much more intense yellow paste than the second, which is more ivory. Summer Comté cheese is made from the milk of cows feeding on meadows.
Fresh grass is rich in carotene, and because Comté is one of the few cheeses that does not contain colouring agents, it restores this original difference. Summer Comté is often attributed a greater organoleptic richness. But the season is not everything. You have to breathe in the scent of the hay to understand the finesse of the aromas that a winter Comté cheese can give you.
Each wheel of Comté cheese is rated out of 20 points. This notation sanctions the taste but also the physical aspect of the cheese. Cheese wheels with a score of more than 15 points receive a green band.
Wheels that score between 12 and 15 points receive a brown band, and it is important to note that this brown band can be used to sanction a slight defect in the appearance of an otherwise excellent cheese. Wheels that do not reach a score of 12 are downgraded.
Green or brown, both are authentic Comté cheese with a minimum age of 4 months. The colour of the ban
