Another delight of French culinary specialists is Comte Cheese.

Comte (French Comte) is one of the boiled hard cheeses of France, another “pearl” of their national cheesemaking. It has a bright yellow mass covered with a hard crust of dark yellow or even brown color. It is made all year round, and the tastes differ depending on the season. The summer one has a more yellow mass and smells of herbs and fruits, while the winter one is lighter with the aroma of hazelnuts. However, the main period for the production of the product is still from July to September. Comte cheese is produced in huge heads weighing up to 55 kilograms each, and to produce one such puck you need at least 100 liters of milk.

It tastes a little sweet, but rich. The cheese mass is firm and elastic to the touch. You should not eat it “carelessly”, since the fat content is not small - 45%. It is for this reason that a rare bodybuilder adds this product to his daily diet, giving his preference to such a low-fat option as Brie.

The production process of Comte is in principle similar to the preparation of other hard cooked cheeses. Cow's milk from the province of Franche-Comté is poured into copper containers, heated, and rennet is added. After the curd clots have formed, they are cut into small pieces and then put back on the fire for about 30 minutes. The curd mass is filtered through linen cloth, and the remaining whey is squeezed out through a press during the day without removing the curd from the flax. The product matures in the cellars from a year to a year and a half. Although young, unripe semi-finished products are also eaten, starting from 4 months. The longer the cheese matures, the richer and deeper its taste becomes. However, like all similar products of this type.

The cheese factory has an interesting system for checking the quality of the resulting product: each head is tasted by professional experts who evaluate the resulting Comte using a twenty-point system. Depending on this, there are two quality categories:

1. Comte cheese – scoring 12-15 points.
2. Comte Extra – with 16-20 points.