Beaufort AOP/40kg/Cow/Raw/Animal Rennet/hard cooked pressed/Savoie/32.2% fat/ sweet, creamy, nutty,out of this world...
 
Ever wondered what is it with that gruyère rivalry between the Swiss and the French? Well, Beaufort was for quite a while called grovire, not a far cry from its Swiss cousin one must concede. It was even called during roman times, le fromage des centrons, a local gallic tribe, and its quality back then owed it a mention by Pliny the elder in his Historia Naturalis.
During the French revolution, the comité de salut publique brought over 2000 wheels of grovire to Paris to feed its starving inhabitants. In 1865 it was renamed Beaufort and though it may have lost its ancient name, there is one thing it has never lost, its curved heel which it shares with one of its smaller neighbours Abondance, an equally delicious hard cooked pressed cheese.
Beaufort is produced year round yet the Beaufort d'été is the cream of the crop, it is still produced high up in the Alps and there is little stopping this century long tradition.
 
It is a necessary ingredient in the famous fondue savoyarde and pairs admirably with a local gamay wine.