Nutty

How nuttiness develops

During ripening, enzymes from the rennet, the milk and the bacteria cut proteins into peptides and amino acids, and fats into fatty acids. Some of these products, together with compounds made by propionic bacteria in Emmental-type cheeses, read on the tongue as nutty and sweet. The high cooking temperature of Alpine curd and the slow, cool ageing of large wheels favour these notes. Age shows clearly: a young Comté tastes of fresh milk and butter, a two-year Comté of roasted hazelnut and broth.

Pasture and the vat

What the animals eat shapes the result. Summer cheese made from the milk of cows on flowering mountain pasture tends to be fruitier and more nutty than winter cheese made from hay-fed milk. The makers of Comté have drawn up a wheel of aromas that lists dozens of notes, from hazelnut and walnut to toasted bread, brown butter and cocoa, so that tasters can describe each wheel. Sheep's milk cheeses such as Manchego and Ossau-Iraty have a nutty sweetness from the milk's high fat.

Using nutty cheese

Nutty cheeses are among the best for cooking, since they melt smoothly and their flavour holds in heat. Gruyère and Comté go into fondue, croque monsieur, French onion soup and gratins, and Emmental fills cheese sandwiches across Europe. On a board, they pair with walnuts, dried fruit and dry white wines, and vin jaune, the yellow wine of the Jura, is the classic match for Comté. Brown ale and dry cider suit them too.

Worth knowing

• Comté: Jura wheel, nuttier with every month
• Gruyère: Swiss wheel of fondue and gratins
• Beaufort: Savoie wheel from mountain pasture
• Emmental: Sweet and nutty, with big holes
• Manchego: Aged sheep's milk cheese of La Mancha
• Ossau-Iraty: Pyrenean sheep's milk cheese
• Parmigiano Reggiano: Nutty, savoury and crystalline

Sources and further reading

• Comté cheese on Wikipedia
• Cheese ripening, Wikipedia
• Gruyère cheese, Wikipedia