Reblochon

What is Reblochon Cheese?

Reblochon comes from Haute-Savoie, in the French Alps, and holds its own AOC designation. It was first made in the Thônes and Arly valleys of the Aravis massif, and Thônes is still the center of production, where local cooperatives continue to make it. Italian Alpine areas produced it too until 1964; since then the Italian version has sold in shrinking quantities as Rebruchon and Reblò alpino.

The name traces back to the word reblocher, which literally means to pinch a cow's udder again. In the 14th century landowners taxed mountain farmers on how much milk their herds gave, so farmers held back part of the first milking until after the yield had been measured. What was left in the udder is much richer, and dairymaids used it for their own cheese. By the 16th century the cheese had picked up a second name, fromage de dévotion, because farmers gave it to the Carthusian monks of the Thônes Valley in exchange for a blessing on their homesteads.

Reblochon is made from raw cow's milk, best from Abondance, Tarentaise and Montbéliarde cows. It is washed-rind and smear-ripened. Each wheel runs about 14 cm (5.5 in) across and 3 to 4 cm (1.2 to 1.6 in) thick, weighing an average of 450 grams (16 oz). The center stays soft and uniform, and the nutty flavor lingers after the last bite.

The best-known use is tartiflette, a Savoyard gratin of potatoes, lardons and onions, which depends on this cheese. Reblochon has not been sold in the United States since 2004 because it is unpasteurized and not aged long enough for U.S. import rules on soft and semi-soft cheese. Delice du Jura, a pasteurized soft ripened cheese, is marketed there as a close relative and substitute, and Préféré de nos Montagnes and Raclette work as stand-ins as well.