What to eat Jura? culinary specialties and gastronomy

From Bresse poultry "down below" to smoked pork meats from the Haut-Jura and Haut-Doubs, the meats reflect the diversity of the Jura altitudes and "countries". Jura dishes have the flavours of the plains or the mountains, but always a strong character. Meat, even snails, go well with wine, cheese and other local products: morels in spring, ceps, chanterelles, mousserons and trumpets in autumn. Out of season, these mushrooms are available dried! The rooster (chicken or poularde) with morels and yellow wine is the emblematic dish. Sausages are flavoured with Comté cheese and Arbois wine, and are made from venison or wild boar. Hams and brési (dried beef in the style of the Grisons) are just waiting to be appreciated with a few potatoes and a bit of hot, melted cheese. The Morteau sausage has a label not far from here and is often found in Jura dishes, in a simple potato salad or in a complete potée. Let's not forget the Montbéliard sausage, probably the oldest sausage in France. Raw and smoked, it is made exclusively in Franche-Comté according to strict specifications. And try the salted goat's cheese typical of the Haut-Jura-Saint-Claude region (it is indeed goat's meat preserved in salt)!

In addition to the product of fishing in the trout rivers of the Jura, several fish farms raise fish that you will find transformed into delicious products: terrines, soups and smoked products... Fresh trout goes very well with yellow wine. In the ponds of Bresse, other freshwater fish are raised: carp, pike, roach, tench... Frogs are the object of a real tradition: when the season returns, the restaurants of the Jura compete to receive visitors who are determined to respect it.

Comté is the flagship product of the Jura and is made throughout the whole of the massif. It comes in the form of a large wheel of cheese weighing more than 40 kg produced from 500 litres of raw milk, but its pressed paste is cooked. The cheeses are matured in the cellar for at least 4 months... often much longer! Unlike some cheeses that are always the same and have no surprises, Comté cheese surprises connoisseurs at every tasting. Before buying, you will often be offered a small tasting. Compare and focus on the aromas. Subtle? Yes: there are more than 80 aromas that most often "sign" Comté cheese. They are grouped into six main families: lactic, fruity, roasted, vegetable, animal and spicy. The reasons for this extraordinary richness of taste? First of all, the terroir: although the Comté AOC requires milk from Montbéliard cows, they do not eat the same grass! It changes according to the altitude or the terrain. Then the season: because the composition of this grass varies over time, fresh in spring, flowering in summer, dried in hay for the winter... These aromas are then developed by the maturing process. And here again, everything is possible! The cellars and the work of the cheesemakers also vary from one dairy to another. And yet, this diversity blends into a single profession that is uniformly proud of its product. For a long time now, Jura farmers have been pooling their milk production to make the best possible cheese and to preserve it throughout the harsh winters. Only large cheeses with a pressed cooked paste allowed this special preservation. Historical documents mention the existence of "fruitières" in the Jura as early as the 13th century. This solidarity-based organisation prefigures the cooperatives. The Jura people were also pioneers in the field of labels: in 1958 Comté was one of the first cheeses to be awarded an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC). In 1996, it was again among the first to receive the European Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The Comté producers continue to work together to constantly improve the quality and distribution of their cheese while respecting their unique environment. When you buy a piece of Comté (France's leading PDO in terms of tonnage), you are putting to work men and women who are attached to their land and their region, who are concerned about the ancestral cheese-making tradition, and about maintaining this know-how while respecting nature.

Morbier cheese, which can be recognized by its grey centre line, is a creamy, moulded, cooked cheese weighing around ten kilos, with a fat content of 45%. AOC since 2000 and AOP since 2002, its production dates back to the end of the 18th century. Where does it come from? To produce a day's worth of milk, cows have to be milked morning and night. The farmers in the Morbier region therefore got into the habit of filling their cheese wheels in two stages, without storing the milk in between. And to preserve the curdled milk in the evening, they covered it with soot. In the morning, they poured the curds from the milking over it. Today, this technique is still used, but charcoal is placed between the two layers of milk. As its name suggests, the Morbier appellation area is located within a limited perimeter around the eponymous village. Annual production is 10,000 tons. To be enjoyed as is on a cheese platter, melted in raclette, morbiflette, or in creamy sauces

The Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura sector is the first cheese PDO to be awarded the "Regional Natural Park Value" label. Bleu de Gex is an excellent blue-veined cheese. It is made in only four cheese dairies (Les Moussières, Villard-Saint-Sauveur, Chezery-Forens and Lajoux), comprising 44 farms. They are spread over a very limited production area in the middle of the park, straddling the Jura and the Ain. The Valeur Parc brand is one of the few labels that can be superimposed on the PDO label. This brand promotes economic activities that place a central place on the human being, the preservation of the environment and the attachment to the territory. These are the values that can be found in this excellent product. This is an exceptional cheese from a region that is no less exceptional. A must-try, it will enrich your cheese platter and surprise gourmets. But not all the milk of the Jura is transformed into cheese! Excellent yoghurts can be found in the dairy farms and other shops. Cream is also very present...

The chapter on Jura cheeses would not be complete without mentioning cancoillotte. It is a paste that comes in a jar or pot. It is obtained by melting the "meton" (curdled skimmed milk) with water, salt and butter. It can be eaten cold on bread, or heated and served, for example, with potatoes. Its advantage? It is very light! Was it this Franc-Comtois tradition that gave birth to The Laughing Cow? The latter, produced in Lons since 1921, is obtained by melting cheese (and not curdled milk) in a more industrial way than the cancoillotte. But, like the city rat and the country rat, The Laughing Cow and the cancoillotte cannot deny their kinship!

Mont d'Or on the French side (Doubs department), Vacherin on the Swiss side (Vaud canton). It was awarded the appellation contrôlée in 1981 and the AOP in 2003. Made from cow's milk, it is a soft, crusty and washed cheese. It is matured for an average of 12 days in France and 17 to 25 days in Switzerland. Characteristics: it has a spruce belt and is housed in a box of the same wood. It weighs from 260 g to 3.2 kg with an annual production of 5,500 tons. It is marketed from September to March. It can be eaten as it is or warm in its box in the oven, washed down with a good Jura or Vaud white wine, with potatoes and good pork from both regions!

For some years now, craft breweries have been developing. The best known, because it is a pioneer, is La Rouget-de-Lisle in Bletterans. In March, the "Beer Festival" in Poligny brings together most of the brewers in the region. La Brasserie Comtoise or the Brewers' Route is a grouping in the form of an association at the initiative of the Chambre des Métiers which allows you to go and meet the brewers. A charter has been established to ensure a quality welcome which includes visits and tastings. In addition to interesting creations, you will discover passionate brewers. But also, the cherries and kirsch of Fougerolles are recognized Comtois products. Herbal teas gathered or cultivated in the Jura mountains by small producers can be found in specialised shops. In the highlands, gentian is distilled for a very typical alcohol. Denis Pisella has also made a name for himself with his cider, made with apples from his orchards in Sellières.

Absinthe, a spirit made from the plant of the same name, has a tormented history rooted in this part of the Jura mountains, a cross-border territory (Val-de-Travers in Switzerland, Pontarlier region in France). Born in Couvet (Switzerland) in the 18th century, it is cultivated in large quantities in the Val-de-Travers and in the Drugeon valley, but it is mainly in Pontarlier, where it is distilled, that absinthe owes its worldwide fame. In vogue at the beginning of the 20th century, it was a jewel in the crown of the local economy, until it was banned in 1910 in Switzerland and in 1915 on the French side. It continued to be produced clandestinely for 95 years. It was reintroduced in France at the beginning of this century. It is quite a ritual to savour an absinthe. It is by a meticulous drip of iced water through a sugar cube placed on a flat spoon that the " green fairy " releases its aromas and its green and amber reflections. It is in the process of regaining its letters of nobility, with its Geographical Indication since 2019 in Pontarlier. It is also used in the composition of cocktails and in gastronomy. On this subject, take a look at the excellent book Absinthe, 40 recipes with the Green Fairy by A. Brunner and Y. Klauser (Éditions Livreo Aphil).