I had read about Mont d’Or somewhere on the web, so when I found the prepackaged cheese-as-a-meal at my local grocery store, I had a vague idea of what it was. It also had an impressive sticker announcing the fact that it had won the “Innovation Trophy” in 2005. I threw it in my basket without much thought, and it sat around in my fridge for an embarrassingly long time before I finally pulled it out and decided to see what all the fuss was about.
“I’m making the cheese,” I called out to my roommate.
“The cheese?” She called back. Suddenly, it was daunting.
There was no reason to be worried, though: the Mont d’Or is easier to prepare than Easy Mac. The instructions are written right on the package, on a paper sticker attached to the whole package. Along with the cheese (500 g of delicious double cream), you also get a pot to bake it in, and the following instructions, translated haphazardly by yours truly:
Place the Mont d’Or and the box it comes in (without the cover) in the ceramic container. Make a few slits in the top of the cheese and pour in 2-3 tablespoons of white wine. Bake at 200 degrees C for about thirty minutes. Put the whole thing directly on the table and eat the soft cheese with potatoes.
I did as I was told. I took this, which looks a bit like a fat brie with a much softer, downier rind, used a knife to make a few slits, and covered it quite liberally with white wine. I stuck the whole thing in the ceramic container and baked it while I boiled a few potatoes and arranged some cornichons on a plate. When it came out, it looked like this:
My review?
Definitely worthy of the trophy.
The cheese is mild… somewhat like raclette cheese. My favorite part was the crispy crust, which was very different in taste from the rest of the cheese. The contrast was quite welcoming after two or three helpings over potatoes. However, the impressive part is that it stays melty for a very long time. We had a spoon in the pot that we used to serve it over our potatoes and pickles, and the cheese never congealed the whole time we were eating. We weren’t able to eat the whole thing (no matter how much we wanted to), but the leftover made excellent pasta sauce the next day.
If you have the chance to try this, please do!