Nicolas Rieffel, an Alsatian, was passed by Masterchef ten years back. He continues to promote the terroir he so loves. As an ambassador for the "Local Alliances", he is on the Tour de France as a representative of the E. Leclerc shops. He meets with local producers daily to share their specialties. He presents us with some of the most important or less-confident gastronomic delights as he passes through our regions from July 8-16 and gives us his verdict.
On Saturday, he tried the famous Cancoillotte from the Mauron cheese dairy.
"La Fromagerie Mauron is located in Gray-la-Ville (Haute-Saone) and has been around since 1862. Ulrich Moron, a Swiss native who began by making Emmental cheese, created it. The chef explains that this well-known family started making cancoillotte with Daniel Moron in the 1970s. His son, Thierry, started the rise of cancoillottes, particularly flavored, in the 2000s. I was able to meet one his collaborators, who shared the story of the cheese dairy as well as the creation of the cancoillotte.
What exactly is cancoillotte? It's the milk that has been curdled and drained. This metton can be melted on low heat to make the cancoillotte It can be flavor with butter or water.
To clarify, "The product is surrounded with many legends around it's origin. For example, it is believed that it derives its name from the Latin phrase "concoctum latem", which can be found in Roman writings. Others believe it was caused by a manufacturing error, similar to the tarte-tatin. According to another local source, the Haut-Doubs claims that there was a fight between two giants. One called Yotus, the other Cancoille. Yotus fell on the fireplace corner and knocked over the pot of curdled dairy milk. The milk fell into a pot and melted in the cauldron. Cancoille won the fight. We can also write "cancoillotte" or "cancoyotte".
Nicolas Rieffel, an Alsatian, admits that he had a wonderful time. "What I really appreciated about this cancoillotte was the pleasure of spreading them on a piece peasant bread and being able discover a unique taste. The yellow wine cancoillotte was what attracted me most, I have to admit. I can't imagine a good recipe for morels with yellow wine cancoillotte sauce and fresh pasta or even cancoillotte fondue. You can bet it, whether it's an aperitif or main course, or dessert!
Tuesday: Direction Morzine (Haute-Savoie), to discover Meme drinks. These are drinks made with tree sap.
