Tête de Moine AOP (, French for "monk's head") is a semi-hard cheese manufactured in Switzerland. It is classified as a Swiss-type or Alpine cheese, and was invented and initially produced more than eight centuries ago by the canons of the abbey of Bellelay, located in the community of Saicourt, district of Moutier, in the mountainous zone of the Bernese Jura, the French-speaking area of the Canton of Bern as well as the Canton of Jura.
Origin
The name “Tête de Moine” has been known since 1790, but its origins go far back to the 12th century. The canons at Bellelay monastery were first mentioned in connection with the production of Tête de Moine AOP as early as 1192 (and so more than 825 years ago), a century before the Swiss Confederation was founded. In those days, they used to pay the annual rent for the various plots of land with the cheese produced at the monastery, which served as a valuable means of payment. Over time, the Tête de Moine was used by tenant farmers as payment to land owners, as well as figuring in legal settlements, being offered as a gift to the prince-bishops of Basel, and even serving as currency. Over the centuries, Alpine dairies outside of the monastery then also began to produce the cheese. In 1797 the canons were driven out of the monastery in the wake of the French Revolution, but production of Tête de Moine AOP continued in the farm-based cheese dairies. Production received a fresh boost in the 19th century when A. Hofstetter - a farmer from Bellelay - received an award for the production of his cheese in Paris. This was followed at the end of the century by the establishment of the first village cheese dairies.
The first part of the 20th century saw the development from farm-based to village cheese dairies and an increase in cheese production. From the 1970s onwards, some important events took place that opened a new chapter in the history of Tête de Moine AOP. In order to promote sales of Tête de Moine AOP and to market the cheese, the cheese dairies got together in 1978 to form the Association of Tête de Moine Producers (VTF). 1997 then saw the establishment of the “Interprofession Tête de Moine” trade organization by the milk producers, cheese makers, maturing experts and merchants.
Another important event was the invention of the Original Girolle® in 1982 by Nicolas Crevoisier, especially for Tête de Moine AOP. The paring tool got its name from the appearance of the rosettes, which are reminiscent of chanterelles (French: girolle) and gives Tête de Moine AOP its unique shape, thus enabling it to fully develop its taste. The Girolle® consists of a round, wooden plate with a vertical pin in the middle and a crank handle. The cylindrical cheese is first cut in half and then placed on the pin so that rosettes can be pared off by means of the crank. This apparatus helped to boost the consumption of this cheese.
There are two explanations for the origin of the name Tête de Moine, which translates from french literally as "monk's head". The name was first documented in the records of Mont-Terrible, a Department established by the French when they annexed the region from 1793 to 1799 at the time of the French Revolution. The first theory is that it is a mocking name bestowed by French occupation soldiers who compared the method of serving the cheese to shaving the top of a skull to create a monk’s tonsure. The second explanation is based on tales from the Jura region which refer to the number of cheeses stored at the cloister "per tonsure", or per resident.