New Cheese Alert!

Aren’t these little cheeses cute?

We’ve been trialing a new cheese: a Reblochon style cheese that we call Petite Savoie.

Reblochon is a washed rind, soft cheese that originates in the French Alps. It has a really unique history. The name Reblochon is derived from the word “reblocher” which literally means “to pinch the cow’s udder again”. In the 14th century, rich landowners would tax the mountain farmers according to the amount of milk their cows produced. On tax day, the farmers would only partially milk their cows for the official milk weight, and after the landowner had left, they would finish milking their cows. This “re-milking” milk would be richer and creamier and would be made into little wheels of smear ripened, washed rind cheese.

Reblochon is an AOP cheese, which means it can only be made in a specific region in France, according to strict requirements. Petite Savoie is our version of a Reblochon-style cheese. The wheels are approximately 5.5 inches across and 1.5 inches thick. When ripe, the cheese has a soft centre and an orange-white edible rind. It is a little bit similar to a brie, but with a stronger flavour - and smell! It’s definitely our most “stinky” cheese.

But it’s delicious. We gave a customer a sample of our last trial and he made a beautiful tartiflette (a casserole with potatoes, bacon, garlic, and onion) with the cheese, and gave it to us to enjoy for dinner. It was spectacular!

We’re looking forward to sharing this cheese with more of you! Sales of Petite Savoie (if this batch turns out as well as our trials!) will be ready in approximately 8 weeks.