Tête de Moine

Tête de Moine or ‘Monk’s head’ is a cylindrical Swiss alpine cheese from the Jura region which is traditionally scraped into fine rosettes using a girolle cheese curler, rather than cut or sliced, to allow the aromatic, unique flavour to be enjoyed at it’s fullest. The cheese is traditionally aged on spruce planks and is occasionally rind washed during maturation.

Our Tête de Moine is made by ‘Fromage de Bellelay’ which has a history linked to cheese that dates back to 1192. The monastery Bellelay used to pay their annual rent with cheese made in the abbey. The oldest mention of the Bellelay Tete de Moine dates to 1628 and mentions the impeccable quality of the grasses and herbs eaten by the cows, which resulted in a rich and fatty milk. By the end of the 19th Century, a number of village dairies were established to increase production.

The name ‘Tête de Moine’ replaced ‘Bellelay cheese’ at the end of the 18th Century. There are two stories behind the name: the first is that it was a nickname from the revolutionary period which drew a link between the shaving of the cheese and a monk’s tonsure. The second is that the cheeses were stored in the abbey and counted per ‘monk’s head’.

Research underway.