Gastronomie dans le Haut Doubs
Gastronomy and tradition
Presentation
It is said that people of the Haut-Doubs are bon vivants... One cannot deny it, as this mountain area abounds in food delicacies inspiring them to live their lives to the fullest! Praised for its gastronomy, the region offers simple, varied and heartwarming cuisine that is close to nature and in harmony with the landscapes. You will find exceptional products of character to be tried out in restaurants and discover some of their trade secrets in the very places where they are created.
In the Haut-Doubs, you have thus the opportunity to attend cheese making such as Morbier, Mont d'Or and world-famous Comté in fruitières: these are traditional dairies where raw milk is turned into cheese. Here is a piece of friendly advice: the best time to watch the making of these dairy products is in the morning at around 9 a.m. – this matches milk delivery coming from the surrounding farms. Indeed, fruitières are places that share a direct link with farmers grazing their Montbéliarde cows in green meadows. Grass and flowers they eat will indeed influence the colour, taste and quality of the finished product. Do not forget either to pay homage to Comté cheese in its cathedral, Fort Saint-Antoine: a true hotspot for gastronomic savoir-faire, this former XIXth century military fort was transformed into maturing cellars a century later by Marcel Petite. Today, nearly 100,000 cheese wheels constitute this fortress's treasure.
The region is also known for its cured meat products that develop a very specific smoky taste thanks to tuyés, some wooden chimneys that can be seen on the roofs of Comtoise farms. You can see one of the most impressive ones at the tuyé du papy Gaby: you will learn there more about the different smoking techniques and will be able to visit its drying room. What is more, this place is located in the Republic of Saugeais, a part of the Haut-Doubs playing a major role in the depiction of regional traditions. Most of all, it is a micronation like no other one!
The region is also known for its cured meat products that develop a very specific smoky taste thanks to tuyés, some wooden chimneys that can be seen on the roofs of Comtoise farms. You can see one of the most impressive ones at the tuyé du papy Gaby: you will learn there more about the different smoking techniques and will be able to visit its drying room. What is more, this place is located in the Republic of Saugeais, a part of the Haut-Doubs playing a major role in the depiction of regional traditions. Most of all, it is a micronation like no other one!
For those of you who might get thirsty during their stay, you can discover here a wide selection of Jura wines and try absinthe, a typical spirit of the region made from wormwood once favoured by artists who believed it to have inexhaustible creative properties... Nicknamed the Fée Verte (Green Fairy), this bewitching drink is produced in historical and traditional distilleries that you can actually visit to learn more about absinthe and its history. Nowadays, a French-Swiss tourist itinerary from its capital Pontarlier to Noiraigue in Switzerland allows you to uncover about twenty remarkable absinthe-related sites (distilleries, drying rooms, museums) as well as activities revolving around the sulphurous drink (restaurants, breweries, pastries... and the list goes on!).
This region of the Jura Mountains is a pure gem of gastronomy as it holds countless gourmet treasures that are just like its inhabitants, generous and authentic.
This region of the Jura Mountains is a pure gem of gastronomy as it holds countless gourmet treasures that are just like its inhabitants, generous and authentic.
