{"id":32788,"date":"2017-12-27T13:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-27T18:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=32788"},"modified":"2017-12-25T15:39:50","modified_gmt":"2017-12-25T20:39:50","slug":"cheese-journeys-passport-comte-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-comte-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheese Journeys: Passport to Comt\u00e9, France"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this multi-part travelogue series, Anna Juhl, founder of Cheese Journeys<\/a>, takes you deep into the world of cheese. From the birth of a cheese in the Alps to an after-hours cheese party at Philadelphia\u2019s DiBruno Bros., each installment is a behind-the-scenes adventure. <\/i><\/p>\n

\n

Worshipping at the \u201c<\/b>Comt\u00e9<\/b> Cathedral\u201d and Whipping Up Memories with Chef Norbert<\/b><\/h2>\n

M<\/span>any often ask me, \u201cWhere in Europe do you enjoy traveling the most?\u201d While I haven\u2019t scoured the entire continent yet, and though my German and Czech roots run deep, it\u2019s the alpine regions straddling France and Switzerland\u2014the people, the culture, and the cheeses\u2014that pull at my heartstrings like nowhere else. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the fall of 2007, my family and I spent time in France, trekking around Alsace, the Jura and the Savoie regions, on a scavenger hunt for our favorite cheesemakers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enamored by our experiences there, my husband John and I made efforts to learn the French language, immerse ourselves in French culture, and learn more about the area\u2019s cheese and cuisine. We even considered relocating to France one day, looking into what life could be like for a family of American expats. <\/span><\/p>\n

Years flew by quickly, and though we never moved to Europe, I return often with friends and cheese-obsessed travelers to this lovely corner of eastern France. We\u2019ve been able to share some of those <\/span>ah-ha <\/span><\/i>moments we enjoyed years ago with many of our guests, including one amazing day in the Jura centered around the region\u2019s \u201cbig cheese\u201d\u2014Comt\u00e9<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Getting up at dawn and inhaling wafts of steamy air laced with the smell of warm curdling milk is part of the experience when you meet up with a hardworking cheesemaker at a local <\/span>fruiti\u00e8re<\/span><\/i>.  It\u2019s a sight to see, as he takes over 100 gallons of milk and almost miraculously turns it into an 85-pound wheel of France\u2019s top-selling Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once fully aged, the flavors of this cheese have been described to me as ranging from \u201ccashews and hazelnuts to dark chocolate and vanilla, from leather and wet wool to steamed potato and artichoke.\u201d Jason Hinds, of Essex St. Cheese, and the late Daphne Zapos once referred to Comt\u00e9<\/a> as their top desert-island cheese. I\u2019d have to agree!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u201cComt\u00e9<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

With happy Montb\u00e9liarde cows grazing in every pasture and cowbells echoing all around us, we eagerly make our way up the hill to Fort St. Antoine, the site of Marcel Petite\u2019s acclaimed aging caves. One of the world\u2019s great temples of cheese, this century-old underground French Army installation has been repurposed into the \u201cComt\u00e9 Cathedral\u201d to hold more than 100,000 wheels as they age to perfection. A private tour hosted by the renowned master affineur, Claude Querry (featured image), is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.<\/h3>\n

 An indisputably perfect ending to the day is an evening with Chef Norbert at La Petite Echelle,  located at the end of a winding road that passes through pine forests and lovely pastures filled with happy cows. Chef Norbert\u2019s chalet-restaurant is 10 miles from Fort St. Antoine, less than a half-mile from the Swiss border and within sight of the mountain called Mont d\u2019Or, which gives its name to the famous local cheese Vacherin Mont d\u2019Or<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

La Petite Echelle<\/a> is as picturesque as it gets.  The chalet oozes rustic atmosphere: no electricity, only gas for the kitchen and candlelight for the large wooden dining table with bench seating. Outside, a wooden bowling alley, an herb garden, an old suspension bridge to the outhouse, a tree swing, a yurt filled with tired hikers and a picnic table laden with appetizers and aperitifs beckon us to relax.  <\/span>A quick peek inside the chalet, reveals curing dry sausages hanging from the rafters, a wood stove taking the chill out of the evening air and a grinning Norbert, speaking only French (to us English-speaking guests), while preparing a menu of local favorites from recipes accumulated over a hundred years\u2014all scribbled in French shorthand on the tiled walls of the kitchen. <\/span><\/p>\n

On one of our first visits, delicious Comt\u00e9, charcuterie, meat-laden Rosti, and local wines were served. Mahnaz, one of our group members, asked Norbert if he could prepare her an alternative dish without pork. He smiled and after our cobbled-up exchange of French and English, he eagerly whisked her to the kitchen and handed her an apron, a dozen eggs, potatoes, and a cast iron skillet. They laughed as he invited her to cook with him, a lovely Rosti\u2014this one with fried eggs on top replacing the salami.  The two triumphantly presented their egg Rosti to the group. Before long, all of us were in the kitchen with Norbert, circled around the stove, sipping wine, and cooking the next course\u2014fondue!<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, we fondly reflect on what we learned on our first trip to the Jura: \u201cWhen you travel to new places, push through your inhibitions, and something priceless can happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Anna Juhl\u2019s company, Cheese Journeys<\/a>, takes turophiles around the world on unique experiences within the cheese world. Learn how she started <\/a>this incredible business and where she\u2019s headed next<\/a>. Follow cheesejourneys<\/a> on Instagram to see all the action from Anna Juhl\u2019s journeys.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fort St. Antoine, the site of Marcel Petite\u2019s acclaimed aging caves, has been repurposed into the \u201cComt\u00e9 Cathedral\u201d to hold more than 100,000 wheels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":32790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2151,2157,2106,2158,1179,2155,2153,2156,2154],"coauthors":[1605],"class_list":["post-32788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-chef-norbert","tag-claude-querry","tag-comte","tag-comte-cathedral","tag-french-cheese","tag-jura-region","tag-la-petite-echelle","tag-marcel-petite","tag-vacherin-mont-dor"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCheese Journeys: Passport to Comt\u00e9, France - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-comte-france\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cheese Journeys: Passport to Comt\u00e9, France\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fort St. Antoine, the site of Marcel Petite\u2019s acclaimed aging caves, has been repurposed into the \u201cComt\u00e9 Cathedral\u201d to hold more than 100,000 wheels.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-comte-france\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"culture: the word on cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-27T18:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Fort-St.-Antoine-Marcel-Petite-Comte-Claude-Querry.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Juhl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anna Juhl\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-comte-france\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-journeys-passport-comte-france\/\",\"name\":\"Cheese Journeys: Passport to Comt\u00e9, France - 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