Semi-soft French cheese
Morbier (French pronunciation: [mɔʁbje] ⓘ) is a semi-soft cows' milk cheese of France named after the small village of Morbier in Franche-Comté.[3] It is ivory colored, soft and slightly elastic, and is immediately recognizable by the distinctive thin black layer separating it horizontally in the middle.[3] It has a yellowish, sticky rind.[2]
Description
The aroma of Morbier cheese is mild, with a rich and creamy flavour.[1] [4] It has a semblance to Raclette cheese in consistency.[5]
The Jura and Doubs versions both benefit from an appellation d'origine protégée (AOP), though other non-AOP Morbier exist on the market.[6]
Preparation
Traditionally, the cheese consists of a layer of evening milk curd and a layer of morning milk curd.[3] When making Comté, cheesemakers would end the day with leftover curd that was not enough for an entire cheese.[3] Thus, they would press the remaining evening curd into a mold, and spread ash over it to protect it overnight.[3] The following morning, the cheese would be topped with morning milk curd.[3] The layer of ash is left in place in between the layers of milk.[1]
Today, it is typically prepared in factories and larger dairy cooperatives from one batch of milk, with the traditional ash line replaced by edible commercial vegetable ash.[1][3][7]
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