In this installment
Comté Cheese
Fig & Walnut Confit
Comté Cheese
Comté is a mountain cheese made in the Jura mountains of France’s Franche-Comté area, which is adjacent to Switzerland. These cheeses are aged inside the 19th-century Fort St. Antoine (yes, it’s really a fort!). Essex cheesemongers visit the fort’s caves every six weeks to choose these wheels for us. They are then aged for over a year and have the most complex flavors. Comté starts out nutty and brothy, like French onion soup, and has a long finish with a delicate hint of sweetness.
Fig & Walnut Confit
L’Epicurien is an artisan family company who have been making jams for over 30 years. Great fig preserves should taste like the fruit was freshly plucked from the tree, and this one hits the spot with some small pieces of walnut to enhance the experience. The confit is rich, sweet, and spreadable. The cheese is rich, bold, intense. The walnuts are barely bitter, something the figs do their best to balance.
Try using the combination to make an exceptional grilled cheese sandwich.