Tête de Moine

This cheese has a pale yellow paste, a dry brown rind, and a strong aroma. The name, which translates as “monk’s head,” hints at the cheese’s eight-hundred-year monastic history. One story claims its name derives from its pale interior surrounded by a darker ring, like the shaved tonsure of a monk’s head. A special tool called a girolle shaves off thin, delicate curls of the cheese that best bring out its flavor.