#marcel petite

This golden wedge is the 16-month Comté, from master affineur Marcel Petite, considered by many to be the master of Comté. Petite ages his cheeses in Granges-Narboz in the Franche-Comté region of France, at Fort Saint-Antoine, a munitions forts built in the 19th century that the French government had abandoned, and Petite purchased in 1966. He started with 300 wheels in the 60’s; today they can have as many as 65,000 at various stages of aging at any given time. 

This Comté was found at Eataly's cheese counter, recommended by head cheesemonger Greg Blais, and comes to them via the Essex St Cheese Co., respected distributors, originally founded by the late Daphne Zepos, in whose honor the Daphne Zepos Teaching Award was created. As Essex says on their site, "Unlike most Comté imported in the U.S., we choose our wheels based on a flavor profile, not on age or price." This cheese is actually on the younger side compared to some of the Comté's I've featured here (like this beautifully-aged wheel of the Extra Grand Cru that was practically popping with tyrosine crystals), but is a wonderful expression of a perfectly crafted alpine. The paste is dense and creamy, buttery and full on the tongue, with fried onion, hay, hazelnut and tropical fruit notes.

This crystallized beauty is the Comté Extra Grand Cru, from master affineur Marcel Petite, considered by many to be the master of Comté. Petite ages his cheeses in Granges-Narboz in the Franche-Comté region of France, at Fort Saint-Antoine, a munitions forts built in the 19th century that the French government had abandoned, and Petite purchased in 1966. He started with 300 wheels in the 60's; today they can have as many as 65,000 at various stages of aging at any given time. 

Formaggio Kitchen recieves a special shipment every year of these rare wheels, the "Symphonie Extra Grand Cru" aged a minimum of 36 months and originating in the cooperatives — or Fruitiers — of Le Bergement and Rix-Trébief. Petite works with numerous suppliers and each Comté has its own unique characteristics and profiles and is more or less suited to long aging. 

A few of the Formaggio cheesemongers, including Andrew from Formaggio Essex in NYC, had the great fortune this summer to visit Fort Saint-Antoine and taste this cheese prior to it's trip over to Boston and New York. You can read about that and more in the post "Comté to Brebis: A Cheese Journey Through France" on the Formaggio blog.

The paste is dense, buttery, even a bit fudgy, speckled with a generous amount of tyrosine crystallization, aka "flavor crystals". This is a cheese where you can actually feel the crystals collapsing on your tongue, a sensation slightly reminiscent of pop rocks. The flavor is outstanding; complex, multilayered, cooked milk and toasted hazelnuts, with rich caramel, bourbon, chocolate and fruity notes combining to make this an stellar example of the Comté family.