Semi-soft Alpine tomme: buttery, mushroomy, with genuine forest-floor character.
Semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Savoie, France. Creamy cream line, chalky core, mushroomy natural rind. Order online.
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Tomme Crayeuse is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Savoie, in the French Alps, developed in 1995 by affineur Max Schmidhauser as a modern take on the old Tomme de Savoie recipe. What makes it special is the two-stage aging: a stint in a cool, damp cellar to build the chalky natural rind, then a move to a warmer cave so the paste softens from the outside in.
Cut a wedge and you can see exactly what that does. There's a creamy, almost melting band right under the rind, then a firmer, slightly chalky core in the middle. The paste is buttery and mushroomy with a clean lactic tartness on the front of the tongue, and the rind brings a real forest-floor character without any of the funk you'd get from a washed rind. It eats gentle but it's not a shy cheese, plenty going on between the cream line and the center.
The natural rind, dusty grey-white and very alpine-looking, is edible and worth eating, that's where most of the earthy depth lives. A great cheese for someone who likes a Tomme de Savoie but wants something a little softer and a little more expressive.
Semi-soft and gives gently under the knife, with a creamy melting band just under the rind and a firmer, slightly chalky core that holds its shape on the board.
Sits in the middle of the road: buttery and mushroomy with a light tartness, more savory than punchy, and never tips into stinky territory.
A mellow, buttery finish that holds for a beat or two with a faint mushroomy lift, then clears off the palate cleanly.
Strong fresh-butter and cultured-cream notes carry the paste, with a pleasant tartness on the front of the tongue from the cool-cave maturation.
A faint browned-butter note around the cream line, but this isn't a cheese that leans on nuttiness.
The chalky natural rind brings a real mushroomy, cellar-floor character that reads through into the paste near the edge.
No real heat or piquancy, just a gentle lactic tartness that some palates might read as a soft tang.
Natural rind
The natural rind is dusty and chalky-looking, with grey-white molds that give the cheese its mushroomy, forest-floor aroma. It is edible and adds most of the earthy depth, especially in the cream line just beneath it.
Tomme Crayeuse stands on its own, but the right partners turn a wedge into a moment. Regional pairings first — they were built for each other.
A crisp Savoie white like Roussette or Apremont mirrors the cheese's alpine origin and lifts the lactic tartness, while a light Beaujolais or dry cider plays nicely against the mushroomy rind.
The cheese's buttery paste and mushroomy rind want a touch of sweetness from honey or ripe fruit and a little crunch and tang from walnut bread or cornichons.
Real reviews from The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills Google Business Profile. Curated by Dom and his team since 1967.
Domenico and his team are fantastic. I’m a chef and I often get my supplies from The Cheese Store — unique products, carefully selected, from top Italian and French cheeses to excellent local ones.
Absolutely loved the cheese store! Everyone was super helpful and friendly. Lena helped us — she was very knowledgeable on all the cheeses: where they came from, what the region is like, what they are known for. It was like wine tasting for cheese.
Ordered several cheeses from them and the wrong items were delivered. Contacted the store and they recognized the error and immediately sent the correct order the next day without any fuss. Really appreciate the promptness and professionalism.
“A four-generation Savoyard house built on affinage — taking classic alpine cow's milk tommes and ripening them slowly in cool, humid cellars until the rinds bloom and the pastes turn mushroomy and cellar-sweet.”
Two-stage cave aging (warm then cold) on wooden boards, producing tommes with a chalky natural rind and a soft cream line beneath.
Hand-cut to order the day it ships. Packed cold for overnight delivery.
Taste it for yourself →Cold-ship 2-day overnight nationwide
