Tête de Moine, literally monk’s head, is a cylindrical semi-hard smear cheese that weighs around 800 grams and has a very fine dough that melts a little in the mouth. It is not cut, but shaved into thin, twirly rosette shaped slices using a special knife such as the “Girolle” or the “Pirouette”. As it is shaved, the surface of the cheese that comes into contact with the air is increased. Firstly, this alters the structure of the cheese dough and, secondly, it helps the full aromatic, melt-in-the-mouth taste to develop. The monks in the Bellelay monastery in the modern-day Bernese Jura sliced their Tête de Moine cheese with the same kind of raised knife. According to religious tradition, the monks used the cheese as a means of payment as early as the 12th century
Tête de Moine AOP gets its unforgettable taste from the mountain milk in its natural state. It is produced in less than ten village dairies in its region of origin according to the strict requirements set out in the AOP specifications. It is kept on spruce wood boards for at least two and a half months and is typically paired with a dry, white wine
Cheese connoisseurs appreciate Tête de Moine AOP as the icing on the cake of every cheese board, as an aperitif, a dessert or a snack. Tête de Moine rosette slices are best cut straight from the fridge
Since May 2001, Tête de Moine has had appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) status. In 2013, it was replaced by the appellation d’origine protégée (AOP) certification. Exported throughout the world, it is the calling card of the cheese-making tradition of the Swiss Jura
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