How to place Tête de Moine AOC onto the «Girolle®»?

First, cut the whole Tête de Moine AOC in half. One half may be stored in the fridge. Place the cut side on a clean and plane surface. Then push the spike of the «Girolle®» held upside down through the centre of the cheese. Make sure you hold the «Girolle®» base horizontally. Turn the «Girolle®» the right way round and press the cheese firmly down onto the steel blades of the wooden base so that it cannot rotate on the «Girolle®», but sits on the base.

You will soon discover that the mounting procedure is far easier to do than to describe. Avoid pressing down too hard on the cheese when you rotate the blade. While being pared the rind of the Tête de Moine AOC crumbles and falls onto the base of the «Girolle®». However, it can also be removed from around the sides of the cheese with a vegetable peeler.

Storability / Shelf life

Tête de Moine AOC, Bellelay cheese is best kept chilled under the cheese cover which stores its humidity; thus its full aroma can be preserved and the cheese is ready for paring at any time. If no cheese cover is available, you may wrap it in plastic film and put it into the fridge where the cheese may be stored for several weeks.

Since Tête de Moine AOC is a natural product, whose maturing process continues, the cheese assumes an increasingly distinct taste with age. Kept in the fridge its shelf life depends more on your personal assessment than on its best-before date.

Girolle® : paring made easy

Nicolas Crevoisier, a precision engineer from Lajoux in the Canton of Jura, used to pare Tête de Moine AOC with a knife like his father and grandfather. He tried substituting the old, time-consuming method requiring certain skills by a faster and niftier system. After several trials he finally came up with the Girolle®. Running a spike through the cheese did the trick and makes paring perfect rosettes as easy as anything.

In 1981 the Girolle® was patented. Production began in the year after and Mr Crevoisier's company, Metafil AG, was able to get through the economic crises of those years without having to dismiss any of his employees. In 1986 he even received the innovation prize of the Canton of Jura. Since the «Girolle®» was first launched 2.5 million items have been sold.

Source : Alain Portner et alii, Der Tête de Moine, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Editions d'En Haut, 1992.