Similarly to fruits and vegetables, cheeses follow a seasonal course, with certain cheeses best consumed at specific points of the year. This is especially the case with smaller, more specific cheeses.
January is the middle of the winter season, generally meaning cheeses from earlier in the year that mature for a longer period are consumed, retaining rich flavours.
Online cheesemonger La boite du fromager provides a monthly list of seasonal cheeses best consumed at this time of year.
Below, we look at the three recommended cheeses, all of which are classic cow’s milk offerings from France (and Switzerland).
Epoisses
Epoisses is a cheese so pungent it is famous almost solely for its aroma.
According to urban legend, it is illegal to open this cheese on Parisian public transport because of its smell although this may just be a myth created by those wanting to travel on the metro without its aroma.
The cow’s milk cheese – occasionally but not always pasteurised – from the east of France is regardless well-loved by cheese enthusiasts.
Ad
The aroma – and taste – of the cheese is partially created by the cheese being washed in a local pomace.
This, and a maturation process of at least six weeks, help it stand out from other winter cheeses with its intense flavour profile.
It benefits from an AOC status, and can only be made in certain communes of the Côte-d'Or, Haute-Marne, and Yonne departments.
One of France’s most famous cheeses, an oven-cooked Mont d’Or makes up one branch of the holy trinity of wintry cheesy French dishes (alongside raclette and tartiflette).
This cheese, with variations produced in either the French or Swiss Alps, is an unpasteurised cow’s milk offering that benefits from protected status in both countries.
There are strict regulations on the type of milk that can be used to make the cheese, as well as how the cows are treated.
Several rules on how the cheese is to be produced also exist, including an ‘official’ season of when Mont d’Or can be produced.
This runs from August 15 to March 15, but the cheese is produced relatively quickly, meaning Mont d’Or ‘season’ runs from September to May.
January is the midpoint of this season and with temperatures often at their coldest during the month Mont d’Or is a perfect choice for a chilly winter night.
The cheese is most commonly baked in an oven (inside its wooden box), often with a dash of white wine and herbs.
It is then served alongside either vegetables, potatoes, or charcuterie to be ‘dipped’ into the cheese.
Dozens of variations on this recipe exist, which can be adjusted for personal taste.
Oven-cooked Mont d'Or cheesemargouillat photo/Shutterstock
Beaufort
Rounding off the list of January cheeses is Beaufort, another cow’s milk cheese from the Alpine east.
It is a cooked, pressed, but unpasteurised cheese.
Beaufort is a cheese with varieties produced year-round, but the ‘hiver’ version is available as its name suggests in winter, as are ‘alpage’ versions (made in higher altitudes).
Having held AOC status since 1968, the cheese is strictly controlled in its production and can be made only in the Beaufortain, Tarentaise valley and Maurienne areas of the Savoie department.
The cheese has a unique and subtle taste due to the hardy cows the milk comes from, with milk from the Tarine and Abondance breeds being used.
Well-adapted to the alpine conditions, these animals graze in pastures in which other cows could not survive, with the grass there providing its flavour.
A single wheel of the cheese can weigh 40kg or more.
A wheel of Beaufort cheesepage frederique/Shutterstock
