Monday, January 25, 2010

Today's Fromage Savage: Tomme Abondance



Purchased from Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco

Type: Semi-soft

Teat: Cow's milk*

Trappings: Apple slices

Taste: It seems that the Abondance cows responsible (at least partially) for this French mountain cheese are being regularly cross-bred with American herds kept by US cheese-makers because these particular bovine are both hearty and very fertile. Perhaps that explains why this is one of the sexiest cheeses I've ever eaten. Seriously, one bite and I was on some other astral plane. Abondance is almost peanutty, with an otherworldly mix of sweet but savory, buttery but firm.

Cheeses like this often have a kind of earthy smell that's described sometimes as like hay or leaves. Neither of which, I'll be honest, are descriptions that would make me want to rush right out and try a cheese, so I hesitate to suggest that Tomme Abondance has those qualities, although something about the descriptor "wet straw" actually rings a little true.

Apparently, Abondance cheese is perfect for making a fondue because it melts well and it's so flavorful. But this is not cheap stuff, mostly because it's name-controlled (i.e., only cheeses from the Savoie region of France can be called Abondance) and isn't around very often. Given that, along with the fact that it's one of the best cheeses I've ever, ever tasted, I'll be damned if I'm gonna melt it down and watch people lose bread chunks in it.

Sorry, just one photo today. We ate it so fast, there wasn't time to take another.

*Interesting American-cheese fact: you can only buy raw milk cheeses in this country that are aged for 60 days or longer. Anything younger than that has to be pasteurized or it's illegal. Which makes me believe there has got to be an underground raw cheese racket going on somewhere, because that's the American way. If someone finds out the secret handshake that'll get me hooked up with those renegades, drop me a line.

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