Comte (Marks and Spencer)
There are many strong traditions when it comes to French cheesemaking, and very few French cheeses are held in higher regard than Comte. As the second type of cheese to receive AOC designation and protection, there are a strict set of processes that must be completed for a cheese to call itself Comte. The rules cover everything from how to feed the cows, how much space each cow needs and how to transport the milk, up to the exact temperature at which the milk can be heated.
Once a cheese satisfies all of the rules it is then graded out of 20 by official inspectors. Points are awarded for the following:
Overall Appearance – 1 point
Quality of rind – 1.5 points
Internal Appearance – 3.5 points
Texture – 5 points
Taste – 9 points
In order to be called Comte, the cheese must score at least 12 points – it may then use the red and yellow shield on the packaging. There is also a special additional designation a cheese can be awarded if it attains 14 points – Comte Extra! This is shown by the green bell icon, which you can see at the bottom left of the sticker on the packaging.
This Comte is a hard cheese with a pleasant and sweet aroma. There is a strong earthy taste, followed by a delightful sweet toffee aftertaste. I found that the aftertaste could border on a soapy flavour at times, but not in an unpleasant way.
This cheese pairs brilliantly with fruity flavours, such as pear, apricot or apple. I tasted mine with a Pink Lady apple and some homemade quince jelly and it was delicious.
I am significantly less knowledgeable about this cheese than the French Comte masters who provide the official grading, but for fun I shall break down my score for this cheese in the traditional manner, dividing by two at the end to get the usual gratemycheese score out of ten.
Overall Appearance – 1 / 1
Quality of rind – 0.5 / 1.5
Internal Appearance – 3.5 / 3.5
Texture – 4 / 5
Taste – 8 / 9
Total score: 17/20 or 8.5!
I highly recommend this cheese; it was a real luxury to taste and experience.
Lover of strong flavours and interesting experiences.
This looks great! Love the scoring by official Comte standards. IMO Comte is a criminally under-appreciated cheese – good Comte tastes amazing. Will definitely seek this out.