Tome fraîche vs Tomme
Tome fraîche
Facts
- Milk
- Cow
- Texture
- Semi-hard
- Type
- Pressed
- Rind
- No rind
- Country
- France
- Place
- Auvergne and Aubrac
Tome fraîche is a cow's milk cheese from Auvergne and Aubrac in France, pressed while it is still fresh and sold before a rind can form. The paste is pale, lightly fermented, and left unsalted, so the flavor stays milky rather than sharp. Makers often lift this curd out of the early path used for Cantal, Salers, or Laguiole, then send it to cooks instead of to a long cellar. It is a kitchen cheese, and its reputation rests on hot potato dishes that need stretch.
Tomme
Facts
- Texture
- Semi-hard
- Type
- Pressed
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- France
Tomme is a French cheese word more than a single recipe, and it usually means a round, flat wheel with a natural rind. The paste is pressed and not cooked the way a very dry grating cheese is cooked, so the texture stays semi-hard and supple. Many tommes were traditionally made from milk that had already lost some cream. The word covers farm cheeses across France. A label that says only tomme names a style, not one fixed cheese from one valley.