Munster

Appearance & taste

Munster has the shape of a flat or tall cylinder and is made in three formats: small flat cheeses of 120 to 340 g, medium ones of 450 to 1,000 g and tall cheeses of 1,000 to 1,750 g up to 7 cm high. The rind is thin and lightly covered with smear, ivory-orange to orange-red; the colour comes mainly from red ferments, including Brevibacterium linens. The paste is ivory to light beige and may have a few holes. At the end of the minimum ripening period it still has a core, which is more or less ripened depending on the age and height of the cheese.

According to the specification, the contrast between the strong-smelling cheese with a slight hint of ammonia and its sweet paste is typical. In the mouth the paste is slightly salty, fine, supple and melting, with lactic aromas, plant notes (hay, ripe fruit, nuts) and woody or slightly yeasty aromas. Caraway seeds may be added to the paste; the cheese then also tastes of caraway.

The cheeses are packed individually as soon as they leave the ripening cellar, and this is done in the area. Without packaging the moist rind would quickly dry out or go mouldy; both are regarded as defects.

Production

At least 95 % of the basic ration of the dairy cows comes from the area, at least 70 % from the farm itself. On annual average the basic ration consists of at least 40 % grass, and of at least 25 % on every single day; on at least 150 days a year each cow has a pasture area of at least 10 ares available. Concentrates are limited to 1.8 tonnes of dry matter per cow per year.

The dairy works with acidified curd, a method that according to the specification developed because the milk of the area is relatively low in fat. Ripening takes place in damp cellars: after a first phase in which yeasts de-acidify the curd, the rind is washed several times. This encourages the red cultures that give colour and aroma. The affineur adapts the cellar climate and care to the development of each cheese. The ripening period counts from renneting and is at least 14 or 21 days, depending on the format.

Origin & history

The area covers the Vosges massif with its foothills and a plain in the west. The Vosges hold back the clouds from the west, so it rains a lot; numerous springs and rivers rise here. Grass grows everywhere, from the high pastures of the summits, the Hautes Chaumes, to cleared land with soil that is hard to work, and meadow caraway, also called Vosges anise, is common in the meadows.

Production goes back to abbeys founded in the Vosges in the 7th and 8th centuries; the monastery Monasterium confluentis gave its name to the town of Munster on the eastern slope. In summer the farmers drove their cows up to the high pastures. From the 16th century they also sold their cheese in the Alsatian wine-growing villages and the towns of the surrounding area. The two names come from the two places of production: Munster in Alsace and Gérardmer (“Géromé”) in Lorraine. Wars and migrations also carried the knowledge into the plain; other breeds were later added to the local Vosges cattle.