Texte: Pierre-Etienne Joye Photos: Sandra Culand
Produits du terroir
La tomme vaudoise, de caractère souple et varié Elle est l’affaire de chaque fromagère et fromager. Crémeuse le plus souvent, voire coulante, la tomme vaudoise reste une référence dans le paysage laitier du canton. Souvent en marge de l’illustre vacherin Mont-d’Or, cette spécialité à pâte molle et croûte fleurie trace son propre sillon avec succès. Vaillante au naturel, ses versions fourrées séduisent de plus en plus d’amateurs.
The Tomme Vaudoise, a Supple and Versatile Cheese It is the business of every cheese maker. Mostly creamy, even runny, it continues to set the standard in the Vaud canton’s dairy landscape. Often overshadowed by the famous Montd’Or vacherin, this soft-ripened speciality has blazed its own trail. Remarkably successful in its natural form, its variants with diverse fillings are attracting increasing numbers of enthusiasts. A quarter of a Tomme Vaudoise, presented on a cheese board, is often keenly awaited at the close of an official ceremony or an office meeting. Mouthwateringly soft and rich, it catches the frenzied attention of hungry aperitif guests, clutching their glasses of
Chasselas wine. Indeed, the Tomme Vaudoise has all the finery to tempt any one who has the slightest weakness for good food. And understandably so! These small, tasty, soft-ripened cheeses are creamy and smooth. They have a delicately nutty taste. Nowadays, most Tommes Vaudoises are calibrated and made with pasteurised cows’ milk. But some are still made with raw milk. An ancient tradtion The Tomme’s history has been chronicled in various registers and old documents, often passed down from generation to generation by dairy processors and cheese-makers. According
to the Agence d'information agricole romande (AGIR ), written evidence can be traced back to 1815, with mention of a cheese-maker in Luins making the Tomme Vaudoise. The Swiss Culinary Heritage inventory indicates that the first explicit written mention of routine production of Tomme cheeses appeared at the end of the 19th century in the Vaud Jura and its foothills. The article adds that a report on the cooperating cheese dairies and mountain pastures of the Orbe and Vallée de Jouy districts (1890) classified the Tomme Vaudoise in the soft-cheese category. The 1895 Val de Joux Almanach describes this small-sized cheese as Le Guillon 58_2021/1 43
