Monday, February 6, 2012

Cheese Please

The last Saturday in September I forced Jim off the couch and we went for a road trip.  Our destination was Charbonnières.  A little town in Switzerland that holds the Vacherin Mont-d'Or cheese festival every year.  Vacherin is only produced between mid August and the end of March which makes it exclusive to the winter months.  When fully ripe the inside is aromatic and runny.  One common way to eat Vacherin is to wrap the cheese in its wooden box in foil and heat it in the oven.  After 20 min remove the foil and the top crust and dip bread or small steamed potatoes in the warm runny cheese.  We did this later when we returned home and it was fantastic!

The festival also includes a parade where the cows are brought down from the mountains for the winter.  We missed this part since they usually bring the cows down at 8am.  But we were there by early afternoon to enjoy cheese, Alpen horns and synchronized whip cracking. 

The route to Charbonnières, about 1hr 45 min from Geneva.



Our route brought us into France for about 15 min and then back into Switzerland.  This is the border to France.

Charbonnières and the Mont d'Or



Jim surveying the Absinthe table



This lady is making the wooden boxes for the Vacherin cheese

Alpen horns!









And finally the cheese.  We had some at the festival but also bought a wheel and heated it up when we got home.  So tasty! 

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