Saint-Nectaire vs Tome des Bauges
Saint-Nectaire
Facts
- Milk
- Cow
- Texture
- Semi-soft
- Type
- Pressed
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- France
- Place
- Auvergne
Saint-Nectaire is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Auvergne, in central France. It is pressed, not cooked, and formed into a flat round with a gray, mottled rind. The paste is supple, ivory to pale gold, and usually has a few small holes. The smell of the rind suggests damp earth, straw, and a cellar, while the inside stays milky. Farmhouse and dairy versions both exist, and the label tells them apart.
Tome des Bauges
Facts
- Milk
- Cow
- Texture
- Semi-hard
- Type
- Pressed
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- France
- Place
- Savoie
Tome des Bauges is a pressed cow's milk cheese from Savoie, in France. The single m in Tome follows an old local spelling, and it marks this cheese apart from Tomme de Savoie. Wheels are flat and modest, with a thick gray rind that can look uneven and lightly mottled. The paste is ivory to pale yellow, supple, and able to soften with heat while it still holds a slice. Herds in the Bauges uplands supply the milk, and the flavor is milky, nutty, and lightly fruity.