Recently on a trip to the Franco-Suisse Jura mountains we enjoyed a memorable afternoon at La Boissaude, an isolated farmhouse-restaurant just a stone’s throw from the summit of Mont D’Or and the Swiss border. We were there to try the local melted cheese speciality called la boîtes chaude, a whole Vacherin du Mont D’Or cheese melted with a little white wine and served with baked potatoes and charcuterie.
click here to see our boîte live….
Mont D’Or (or Vacherin du Haut Doubs as its also called in France) is a rich, washed rind, soft cow’s milk cheese that is produced in the Jura mountains of both France and Switzerland. In France it is one of the country’s (over 40) celebrated AOC cheeses while in Switzerland it enjoys its own AOP status. The cheese is distinctive because each one is sold in its own handsome spruce mold. In France it’s production is limited to several communes within the Doubs departement (Franche-Comté region). There it is made with raw milk while just across the border, in Switzerland, it is made using thermized milk (a process similar to pasteurization but using lower temperatures).
Now is the time to eat Vacherin du Mont D’Or because it is a seasonal cheese, produced only in the cooler months from mid-August to mid-March in France and from September to April in Switzerland. This period is when the cows are down from their high summer pastures and don’t produce enough milk for Comté, a cheese that is big business in these parts. Comté is arguably France’s most popular cheese boasting the country’s largest production AOC. Each year about 40,000 tons of it are made in the region.
La Boissaude
La Boissaude is located on the French side of the Jura in its own isolated and spectacular wilderness close to the summit of Mont D’Or and just a couple of kilometers from the Swiss border.
The area is a paradise for nordic skiers and boasts miles of beautifully groomed cross country trails. This team of adorable sled dogs greeted us when we arrived. They looked so hopeful as they waited patiently outside the restaurant for their master.
Entering the restaurant
A busy room
The famous hearth where potatoes are roasted
full of foil wrapped potatoes
The menu of the day…
The view from our table
This is fare for mountain appetites. We got 6 potatoes for the two of us, which was more than enough but just in case we ran out we were welcome to help ourselves to more from the hearth
Delicious local charcuterie
The star of the show
Isn’t that a good looking potato?
Click here to see our boîtes chaude live!
In case melted cheese doesn’t appeal there is also a selection of grilled meat on the menu, served with those delicious potatoes of course.
Still waiting but maybe not quite so hopeful…..
a nearby farmhouse we found on a walk ….snowed in for the winter
Michael’s selfie
We stopped in at the Fromagerie Du Mont D’Or where, after hours, you can buy the cheese in a vending machine…
We also made a detour to Poligny to buy some 30 month old Comte cheese at the Juraflore dairy …
Read more about the French Jura in this previous post
If you go:
La Boissaude, 25370 Rochejean, France
Phone:+33 3 81 49 90 72
- 1 Mont d'Or cheese (approx. 480 grams)
- as many baked potatoes as you can eat
- a selection of charcuterie
- gherkin pickles
- white wine (preferably from the Côtes-du-Jura or an AOC Arbois)
- Preheat the oven to 220 degrees (C).
- Make a cut in the top of the cheese and pour in a glass of the wine.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden and bubbly.
- Serve with a crusty loaf, the potatoes, charcuterie, pickles and a green salad.
- And the rest of the wine.
- Mont D'Or is made in different size molds from 480 grams to just over 3 kilos making it perfect for a romantic dinner for 2 or for a party.
CROSS COUNTRY SKIERS TAKE NOTE. Seldom have I seen such a vast paradise of trails.
Everything looks so delicious and yet so simple, the French are masters at simplicity yet flavours that are masterful.
I have your bread recipe for Ciabatta that a friend cut our to the Vancouver Sun. I have made this hundreds of times over the years but now we want to make Artisan brown breads but cannot find a descent recipe that does not take days to make but also is not a fast couple of hours recipe either.
Can you suggest a few whole wheat and rye bread recipes as I have looked on the internet for your recipes but never found one. Since using your Ciabatta recipe I am fussy on what recipe I chose.
I was happy that I found your website and read about the cheese and baked potatoes I love to read more.
Thank you .
Dianne
Maple Ridge, BC.
Canada
Dear Dianne,
Thanks so much for your feedback, it is much appreciated..I am glad that you enjoyed the ciabatta recipe. That recipe is from my first cookbook, “Piano, Piano, Pieno: Authentic Food from a Tuscan Farm”. The first chapter of that book is a bread chapter and there are also many easy whole grain recipes there using both an easy biga starter (like the one in the ciabatta) as well as a sourdough starter. You can find the book on Amazon or in your local library….
Thanks again,
Susan