Comté AOC

Comté AOC
Comté (also called Gruyère de Comté) is a French cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Comté has the highest production figures of all French AOC cheeses, making around 40,000 tonnes annually. Its name is French for 'county', and is named after the Franche-Comté region. The cheese is made in flat circular discs, each between 40 centimetres (16 in) and 70 centimetres (28 in) in diameter, and around 10 centimetres (4 in) in height. Each weighs up to 50 kilograms (110 lb). The fat content is around 45%. The rind is usually a dusty-brown colour, and the internal pâte is a pale creamy yellow. The texture is relatively hard and flexible, and the taste is strong and slightly sweet. The manufacture of the cheese began as early as the 12th century, when shepherds would spend the summer months in their remote huts of the Jura massif. The distance from towns of any size meant that any cheese they made would need to mature over a period of months. The milk was pooled between neighbouring shepherds, and the huge cheeses would be stored until being carried to market at the end of the season. Once summer had ended, so would production of Comté, with the cows' milk instead being used to make Vacherin Mont d'Or. Eight départements are now entitled to produce the cheese, each of which surrounds Franche-Comté, and also including parts of Rhône-Alpes.