This cheese, which can also be found in our April box, is a hard cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk from the Aquitaine region, located in the southwest of France.
Its history goes back to 1928. This year, Swiss cheese master Charles Baechler bought the former military barracks in the village of Le Broc in Aquitaine. After buying it, he lived by the water with his family of six and a herd of Brunes des Alpes cattle. He continued to practice the Swiss-style production of cheese, which had already been professionalized in Switzerland. He converted the Le Brock barracks into a fromagerie and to this day the 5th generation of this fromagerie is making cheese in these former barracks. All products are still made by hand. Le Templais is available in three different variations - depending on the length of the maturation period.
During production, the skimmed milk of the cheese is thickened with varnish, then the whey is drained and the cheese is pressed. Then filled into a round mold, the mold is carefully turned several times so that as much mole as possible can drain out. The cheese then rests in a brine, which gives it its flavor. The youngest Le Templais is the Tendre with 12 weeks, Le Templais Cadet is allowed to mature for a full 16 weeks and the Le Templais Fleuron is matured for a full 52 weeks. Depending on the ripening time, Le Templais differ in taste and color. While the young Tendre has a firm, slightly brittle but firm dough, a nutty to fruity aroma and a creamy color, its fat content is 31 percent. The Le Templais Cadet has a pale yellow dress and has a firm consistency and a nutty taste due to its 28 percent fat content. The good old Le Templais Fleuron is the most colorful of all as it is yellow-brown. Its dough is firm but crumbly due to the very low fat content. However, comparable to a Parmigiano, it has a mildly nutty to floral-fruity taste.
Le Templais is used in the kitchen with vegetable salads, melted cheese in hot dishes, warm snacks and as a side dish, in soup or as a dessert with a sweet sauce.