This cheese is unique because of the way it is eaten in the form of rosettes made with the "girolle".

It originates from the Bernese Jura, the French-speaking region of the canton of Bern. More precisely, it comes from the Bellelay Abbey, located in the locality of Saicourt, in the district of Moutier.

Currently, less than ten cheese dairies in the mountain region of the Franches-Montagnes, Porrentruy, Moutier and Courtelary districts produce this cheese, which was first made by the monks of the Bellelay Abbey more than eight centuries ago.

The monks of the Bellelay Abbey began to produce this cheese more than eight centuries ago and it has been awarded an AOC since January 2001. As early as 1192, written records show that the abbot's cheese had acquired such a reputation that it was used to pay the farmers' fees to the owners of the farms, to settle disputes, to be offered as a gift to the prince-bishops of Basel, or as a bargaining chip.

A letter dated August 16, 1570 sent by the abbot of Bellelay to the prince-bishop of Basel mentions Bellelay cheese. It is a cheese made from raw, whole cow's milk, with a pressed, semi-cooked or semi-hard paste. At present, its average weight is 850 grams, whereas at the time it could weigh up to 2.5 kg.

It is characterized by a cylindrical shape with a height of 70-100% of the diameter, and is best consumed with a dry white wine, after a minimum maturing period of 2.5 months on a spruce board. In 1981, the "girolle" was invented, a device that allows to make rosettes of "Tête de Moine" by turning a scraper on an axis planted in the center of the cheese.

This device gave a decisive impulse to the demand and therefore to the production of this cheese which has increased from about 200 tons in 1981 to 2150 tons in 2010.