The Cheese Monger’s Dilemma: I Want My Reblochon!

“Do you have Reblochon?”

It’s a question we get time and again at Molto Formaggio. If you’re unfamiliar with the cheese, allow me the introduction. Venerable cheese monger Steve Jenkins, author of The Cheese Primer (collectively known as the cheese monger’s bible), describes Reblochon as “a triumph of cheesemaking—its rind is like the velvet on a deer’s antler, its flavor like filet mignon.”

So it’s no wonder that anyone who’s ever worked behind a cheese counter has entertained the question. The answer, at least in the U.S., is always no—and you can thank the FDA for that. Reblochon (ruh-bloe-SHAW), which comes in 1”-high, 5 ½”-wide wheels, is a raw cow’s milk cheese from France that is aged about 50 days—ten days shy of the minimum for legal sale in the U.S. And while there’s no true substitute for this phenomenal cheese, some succulent alternatives include the oozing Vacherin Mont d’Or (which you can special-order from Molto Formaggio in the fall), real French Munster, St. Nectaire, Tomme De Savoie, and Tomme Crayeuse; Taleggio—from Italy; Gubbeen—from Ireland; Forsterkase—from Switzerland; and Winnimere, made from the milk of grass-fed cows in Greensboro, Vermont.

Alison Miller, a cheese monger at Molto Formaggio in Dallas, began her career in artisanal cheese at Murray’s Cheese in New York’s West Village.

[googleMap name=”Molto Formaggio” width=”300″ height=”200″ directions_to=”false”]68 Highland Park Village, Dallas, TX[/googleMap]