Gastronomy

Comté cheese soufflé (official recipe)

A traditional Comtois dish, Comté soufflé is as easy to make as it is delicious! Try it and you’ll love it! Produced in the heart of the Jura mountains, Comté is made from the milk of Montbéliard and Simmental cows. Every day, Comté cheese is made in the traditional way in around 160 small village cheese dairies known as “fruitières”. The Routes du Comté are an opportunity to discover the tradition and know-how of the Jura mountains.

Recipe for soufflé with Comté cheese :

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 35 mn
Total time : 55 mn

A gourmet dish

Ingredients (serves 4)

160 g grated Comté cheese
3 eggs
30 cl milk
30 g flour
60 g butter
1 pinch grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

4 steps to make

The soufflé recipe

Prepare the béchamel sauce: melt 50 g of butter in a saucepan, then sprinkle in the flour to avoid lumps and cook for a few seconds while stirring. Drizzle in the milk, stirring constantly to obtain a smooth cream. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Preheat the oven to 210°C (gas mark 7).
Generously butter and flour a soufflé dish; set aside in a cool place. Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Lightly salt the egg whites and whisk until stiff. Remove from the heat and add the egg yolks and Comté to the béchamel sauce, stirring vigorously. Gently fold in the egg whites so as not to break them.
Pour into the buttered tin and bake for 35 minutes. Check frequently through the oven window and serve immediately once cooked.

Good to know

Comté is a pressed cooked cheese made from raw milk. Its terroir is the Massif du Jura, a mid-mountain region stretching across the Jura, Doubs and Ain departments. Cows of the Montbéliarde and French Simmental breeds are the only ones allowed to produce Comté milk. Every day, Comté cheese is made by hand in around 160 small village cheese dairies known as “fruitières”. It matures in the afﬁnage cellar for a minimum of 4 months, but is often matured for much longer, from 8 months on average!
The diversity of the Jura landscape is reflected in the variety of its cuisine. The locals have adapted their culinary specialities to the gourmet produce of the land, to the wealth of fish and game in the rivers, but also to their imagination. Comté, Morbier, Mont d’Or, Bleu de Gex, Gruyère, Cancoillotte, Morteau sausage and other smoked cured meats, Bresse poultry: authentic witnesses to the history of the local culture… The supreme rafﬁment is that the specialities of the Montagnes du Jura harmonise delicately with its wines, whether they are from the Jura (and in particular the very precious Vin Jaune and Vin de Paille…), from the Franche-Comté region or from Bugey.
The Jura Massif offers a number of tourist itineraries to discover the wonderful Comté terroir: the Routes du Comté include farms, fruit orchards and afﬁnage cellars that can be visited, as well as outdoor activities directly linked to the discovery of the landscape and regional farming practices, and “gourmet stops” offering good addresses for outlets selling regional products, winegrowers and various forms of catering…
A website is dedicated to discovering this Protected Designation of Origin cheese: www.comte.com