Tête de Moine

/tɛt də mwan/TET duh MWAHN

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Snack
Bernese Jura (Bern)

When: Snack
Taste: SavoryRich
Made with: Dairy & cheese

History

Tête de Moine, French for "monk's head", is a semi-hard cheese made from raw cow's milk in nine dairies in the Bernese Jura and the canton of Jura. Its origins go back to the 12th century at the abbey of Bellelay, whose canons first made it, and the name Tête de Moine became established in the late 18th century. Since 2001 Tête de Moine, Fromage de Bellelay has been a protected designation of origin. Traditionally it is not sliced but shaved very thin. Since 1982 a special tool, the girolle, has done the job: the cheese sits on a spike on a wooden board, and a crank scrapes off frilly rosettes that recall chanterelle mushrooms, girolles in French, which gave the tool its name.

Sources

Tête de Moine (Wikipedia) read 2026-11-01
Tête de Moine (de Wikipedia) read 2026-11-01

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How to pronounce Tête de Moine

In the International Phonetic Alphabet it is /tɛt də mwan/. In plain English letters that is TET duh MWAHN, with the stress on the syllable in capitals. There is no recording by a native speaker yet, so use the spelling and the IPA.

What is Tête de Moine?

Tête de Moine is a snack of Switzerland. Where it comes from: Bernese Jura (Bern). People usually eat it as a snack. Its main ingredients are dairy & cheese. It tastes savory and rich.

Where Tête de Moine comes from

Tête de Moine is one of 30 signature dishes of Switzerland on this map. See all dishes from Bern.

Rösti · Main dish · Bern
Rösti is grated potato fried in butter or fat into a golden, crisp round cake.
Berner Platte · Main dish · Bern
The Berner Platte, the Bernese plate, is the generous meat dish of Bernese cooking.
Cheese fondue fondue · Main dish · Fribourg and Vaud
Fondue comes from the French verb fondre, to melt.
Raclette · Main dish · Valais
Raclette is both a cheese and a meal, and both come from the canton of Valais.
Zürcher Geschnetzeltes · Main dish · Zurich
Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, Züri-Gschnätzlets in Zurich German, is thinly sliced veal quickly sautéed and served in a cream sauce, and it is regarded as the typical dish of Zurich's regional cooking.
Tirggel · Dessert · Zurich
Tirggel, or Züri-Tirggel, are thin, hard biscuits from Zurich made of flour, honey and spices.

Food of Switzerland

Dishes like Tête de Moine in other countries

Same type of dish and similar main ingredients as Tête de Moine:

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