Do you know who the boars of Mont d'Or are?
In Franche-Comté, there are two kinds of wild boar. There are of course the animals characteristic of the forests, but there is also a second species, which also evolves in the heart of the woods.
The Mont d'Or specifications impose the exclusive use of spruce straps. Unlike the Swiss Vacherin which requires straps from the region of production, the French appellation authorizes imported spruce straps.
This is the hot topic in the hot box world. "Too few cheese dairies use Comtois straps" protest the professionals of the collective "Friends of the artisans boars of Haut-Doubs".
Basically, we cannot give them the wrong: imposing spruce straps from the production area would respond to the concern for proximity of the Mont d'Or interprofessional union.
However, there are still 40 wild boars in Haut-Doubs. They cannot supply the straps for the 6,000 tonnes of Mont d'Or, especially since the straps are also used for cheese products outside the Mont d'Or area (such as Edel de Cléron). For professionals in the sector, it is not a problem of cost but of the ability to produce straps in sufficient quantity.
And then… we will say that the spruce has the same smell, whether it grows in the forests of Haut-Doubs or in the forest of Bialowezia in Poland!
