Eat This Old World Cheese If You Want A Taste Of Medieval Cuisine

Cheese and bread is a time-tested combination for good reason. For those moments you want to sample cheese that ancestors munched on, look to 13th century Reblochon. The creamy cheese is a soft, smear-ripened mountain cheese, and the taste is nutty and delicate. In the 16th century, Reblochon earned a reputation as a devotional food and was passed to monks by farmers in exchange for blessings over property.

Hailing from the Thônes Valley in the  French Alps, Reblochon was devised as a smart way for milk farmers to skip out on paying full taxes. At a time when figures were based on the counted number of milk jugs, farmers would strategically milk cows to half yield, then return to finish the milking work once money-collecting landowners and nobles departed. 

This incomplete milking would mean the farmers had to pay less rent, and once tax inspections were completed, farmers milked cows and made cheese from this secret and subsequent milking. The name Reblochon is derived from phrases indicative of milking a cow twice. Though this second milk may not have been as plentiful as the first, the result was creamy and perfect for cheese-making. 

In 1958, Reblochon was designated as an AOC cheese – the key label experts look for when shopping for cheese. This variety of cheese was one of the first to receive the PDO label. Fewer than 200 farmers make Reblochon, and the cheese is still made using the second batch of milk honoring the traditional methods of production. The rind is washed, and the cheese is placed on a thin board made of spruce wood to age. The cheese can be difficult to find in the United States since 2004 pasteurization laws regulated the sale of semi-soft and soft cheeses.

Warm dishes made with Reblochon can still be found served as part of aprés-ski food menus in the French Alps. The cheese is commonly enjoyed as part of a cheesy French potato dish called tartiflette — and can be easily paired with an assortment of breads, nuts, dried fruits, and wines from the same Savoie region. Wheels of Reblochon can also be thrown on the grill in the summer to turn the center gooey and warm, offering an ideal start to a dinner party or backyard barbecue as an accompaniment to a festive night filled with wine.