Patrick Oconnell
Morbier is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese with a distinctive line of ash running through its middle. It has a strong aroma and a nutty, creamy flavour. Morbier is known for its excellent melting properties, making it a great choice for grilled cheese sandwiches, fondues, and other cooked dishes. In 2014, the United States FDA expressed concern over the bacterial counts of Morbier cheese entering the country, but by 2017, its stance had softened, and authentic Morbier cheese was allowed back into the US market.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Melting properties | Excellent melting properties |
| Texture | Springy, supple, rubbery, semi-firm, semi-soft |
| Taste | Mild, nutty, pungent, creamy, fruity, sweet |
| Aroma | Strong |
| Colour | Ivory-yellow |
| Origin | Morbier, Franche-Comté region, France |
| Type of milk | Cow's milk |
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What You'll Learn
Morbier cheese's melting properties
Morbier is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese with a distinctive horizontal grey-black line of ash running through its middle. This line is a mixture of edible vegetable ash, separating the morning and evening milk curds used in its production. The cheese has a strong aroma, a creamy flavour, and a nutty, slightly pungent taste. It is a versatile cheese that can be enjoyed on its own, as part of a cheese platter, or incorporated into various dishes.
Morbier cheese has excellent melting properties, making it ideal for cooking and adding a creamy texture and rich flavour to dishes such as gratins, sandwiches, fondues, and grilled cheese. Its melting properties also make it a good choice for fondue. When melted, Morbier cheese adds a creamy texture and rich flavour to culinary creations.
The cheese's springy, supple, and silky texture, along with its mild taste, makes it suitable for melting. It is often used in sandwiches and melts well, adding a wonderful, nutty aftertaste. Morbier's melting properties are also attributed to its semi-soft texture, which is easy to work with and blends well with other ingredients.
The cheese's ability to melt well is also due to its high butterfat content, which affects the melting point and viscosity of the cheese. The butterfat content in Morbier cheese can vary slightly between the morning and evening milk curds, contributing to the cheese's complex flavour profile.
In summary, Morbier cheese is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese with excellent melting properties. Its melting characteristics make it a versatile ingredient in various dishes, adding a creamy texture and enhancing the flavour of the dish. The cheese's texture, mild taste, and butterfat content all contribute to its ability to melt well, making it a popular choice for grilled cheese sandwiches, fondues, and other melted cheese creations.
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Morbier cheese's smell
Morbier is a semi-soft, pungent cheese with a nutty, creamy flavour. It is easily recognised by a dark line of ash cutting through its centre. The cheese is named after the town of Morbier in the Franche-Comté region of France, located in the Jura Mountains. The ash line is a mixture of edible vegetable ash, which separates the cheese layers and creates an aesthetic, dramatic presentation.
Morbier is a washed rind cheese, which usually develops a quite pungent smell. The extra pungent smell may be caused by over-ripened cheese, or be an indication that something else has grown on its rind. The bacteria that give it the orange rind is called "brevibacterium linens", the same bacteria that makes gym socks smell bad. The idea of a washed rind cheese is that you keep the rind wet.
Despite its strong aroma, Morbier has a surprisingly mild taste and leaves a wonderful, nutty aftertaste. Its flavour is complex and fruity with a slight zing. The ivory-yellow pâte is often described as supple, springy, and silky when touched, yet dry and sticky at the same time.
Some people find the smell of Morbier off-putting, comparing it to baby poop or a compost bin. However, others find it interesting, especially because of the ash line. Some cheese producers have changed the production technique to reduce the pungent smell and make it more palatable for more people.
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Morbier cheese's taste
Morbier is a semi-soft cheese made with raw cow's milk. It is named after the small village of Morbier in the Franche-Comté region of France, located in the Jura Mountains. The cheese is easily recognised by a dark line of ash cutting through its centre. This layer of ash was originally used by cheesemakers to separate the morning and evening milk curds during the cheese-making process and to preserve the leftover curds from the evening's production.
Morbier has a mild taste, a nutty aftertaste, and a creamy texture. Its flavour is complex and fruity with a slight zing. The cheese is best enjoyed with warm bread, roasted onions, and a crunchy cornichon, or as part of a summer picnic with a crusty baguette, saucisson sec, wildflower honey, dried cherries, and a crisp cider. It also melts well, making it a great addition to sandwiches and salads.
The aroma of Morbier cheese is mild, with a rich and creamy flavour. The cheese is ivory-coloured, soft, and slightly elastic, with a yellowish, sticky rind. The pâte is often described as supple, springy, and silky when touched, yet dry and sticky at the same time. The Jura and Doubs versions of Morbier benefit from an appellation d'origine protégée (AOP), which ensures that the cheese is made according to traditional processes and packaged in a specific way.
Morbier is aged for 45 days, during which it develops its distinctive flavour and texture. Some producers also age the cheese for an extended period of 100 or 150 days. The area where Morbier is produced is also famous for making Comté cheese, which is the French equivalent of cheddar in terms of popularity.
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Morbier cheese's texture
Morbier is a semi-soft cheese with a creamy texture. It has an ivory-yellow colour and is described as supple, springy, and silky to the touch, yet dry and sticky at the same time. The cheese is aged for 45 days, during which it develops a creamy texture with flavours ranging from fruity and grassy to slightly citrusy. Some producers also age the cheese for an extended period of 100 days or 150 days.
Morbier has a distinctive appearance due to the thin, dark line of ash cutting through its centre. This line is a mixture of edible vegetable ash, separating the cheese into two layers. The layer of ash was originally used as a preservation technique by French cheesemakers to prevent leftover curds from drying out and to keep flies away. The bottom layer of cheese, made from the evening milk curd, has a fruitier taste than the top layer, which is made from the morning milk curd.
The texture of Morbier is described as easy-going and semi-firm, making it suitable for melting. It has a nutty, slightly pungent flavour with a sweet and mild taste. The aroma of Morbier cheese is mild, contrary to its strong smell. It pairs well with warm bread, roasted onions, and a crunchy cornichon, or with a crusty baguette, saucisson sec, wildflower honey, dried cherries, and a crisp cider.
Morbier cheese is named after the small village of Morbier in the Franche-Comté region of France, located in the Jura Mountains. The process of making Morbier cheese involves pressing the leftover curd from the evening's production of Comte into a round mold and covering it with a thin layer of ash. The next day, the leftover morning curd is pressed on top of the ash layer. This traditional method of cheese-making has been preserved through the Appellation d'Origine Protégée (AOP) label, ensuring that the cheese is produced in a specific region and according to specific processes.
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Morbier cheese's history
Morbier is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese originating from the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. The cheese is named after the small village of Morbier in the Jura Mountains, which lies in a deep valley a few miles from the Swiss border. The word "morbier" means "small market town" in the local patois.
Morbier was first made about two hundred years ago by cheesemakers who lived in the village of Morbier. At the time, the harsh climate sometimes made it difficult for the local Franche-Comté people to deliver their milk to the village cheese dairy to make Comté. So, they began making their own cheese on their farms. To protect the curd obtained from the evening milking, they covered it with ash or soot to keep flies away and added a layer of fresh curd from the morning milking the next day. This layer of ash created Morbier's signature stripe, which remains today as a nod to the history and tradition of this cheese.
Morbier is often recognised by its distinctive thin black or grey-black line running horizontally through its middle, which is a mixture of edible vegetable ash. The cheese has an ivory-yellow colour and is described as supple, springy, and silky to the touch, yet dry and sticky at the same time. It has a mild aroma, with a rich, creamy, nutty, and slightly pungent flavour.
Morbier is best enjoyed with warm bread, roasted onions, crunchy cornichon, or a crusty baguette, saucisson sec, wildflower honey, dried cherries, and a crisp cider. It melts well and is often used on sandwiches, salads, or melted on top of dishes.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Morbier is a semi-soft cheese with excellent melting properties. It is a good choice for grilled cheese sandwiches and fondues.
Morbier has a strong, creamy, nutty, and slightly pungent flavour. It has a fruity taste with a slight zing and a nutty aftertaste.
Morbier has a strong aroma, often described as having a "moderate stink factor". Some have likened the smell to rotting vegetables, baby poo, or ammonia.
Morbier is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese. It is made with raw cow's milk and a layer of edible vegetable ash that runs horizontally through its middle.
