Arôme de Lyon

We spent the day driving through the countryside yesterday and were surrounded by fields of ancient grape vines trained in antique homage to the sun of the Rhone Alpes as far as the eye could see. We rolled back into Lyon at the end of the day with our trunk full of wine and cheese.

At my favorite restaurant, Pierre serves a little hand moulded log of chevre that he soaks in Marc and covers with raisins as an honorary gesture to the Arôme de Lyon. Back in the kitchen at Tetedoie I also saw the cheese boy prepare a chevre like this with pepper. We enjoy the original Arôme de Lyon on the cheeseplate at the café des Federations, and right now at the fromagerie they look and taste very good.

This Arôme de Lyon is a young St. Marcellin type cows cheese (some are also done with a chevre like a picodon depending on the producer) that macerates in Marc de Bourgogne for several weeks, and then is covered with mounds of the pressed stems, seeds, and skins leftover from the grape production. The cheeses are stored in old oak wine barrels starting soon after the grape harvest, and are set on palettes of 40 ready for sale starting from the winter months. Even so, we get them all year round. You can choose them at various states of affinage since they stay very well in their barrels, and once it's on the palette the Arôme de Lyon becomes harder and more dense with time. They age very well but don’t last long on the plate at home!

I love the crunch of the raisin seeds between my teeth. The raisin crust provides a delightful texture and in contrast, the cool smooth flavor of Marc floods our senses. Adding complexity to that mix, we also taste the counterpoint of the tangy but creamy smooth pâte that the cheese provides. Now that I'm weighing my cheeses I can say that this one weighs about 48 grams.