In the program "Historically Vôtre", on Europe 1, Olivier Poels explains the medieval origins of Munster, an Alsatian cheese as strong on the nose as it is good on the palate.
He took the opportunity to deliver us the recipe for a dish where this soft cheese finds its place: the zucchini gratin.
Munster is a pretty little French village located between Lorraine and the Vosges.
And we know it especially for the cheese to which it gave its name: munster.
The village was founded in 660 by Irish monks who wanted to settle in a quiet place.
The name of munster comes from the Latin "monasterium" which means, you guessed it, "monastery".
Usually in those medieval times, when a monastery was founded, all around people came to settle and a town developed.
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As in many monasteries at the time in France, the monks of Munster began to make cheese and create an income.
A soft cheese with a washed rind, like maroilles, which has therefore become the famous munster.
Munster and munster-Géromé
This cheese has the particularity of being very fragrant, because of the bacteria that develop in its rind.
A power not as marked when you taste it.
Its taste in the mouth is more delicate.
And its production has benefited since 1969 from a protected designation of origin (PDO).
There is a munster called munster-Géromé.
It is indeed the same cheese protected by a PDO, but this name more particularly designates the one made on the Lorraine side.
Munster AOP is made from milk from Vosges, Simmental, Prim'Holstein or Montbéliarde cows and is matured for 21 days.
Munster zucchini gratin
Ingredients :
500 gr of zucchini
1 munster
3 eggs
10 cl of liquid cream
1 tsp of cumin
The steps of the recipe:
1.
Cut the courgettes into slices and the munster into cubes
2.
Beat the eggs with the cream and add the cumin
3.
Gather everything in a gratin dish
4.
Bake 40 minutes in an oven at 180 ° C