Orval Cheese: The Other Treasure of the Trappist Monks
Less famous than the beer, the cheese produced within the walls of Orval Abbey perpetuates a thousand-year-old monastic craft and embodies the industrious discretion of the Trappists.
The Cheese Heritage of a Silent Community
Behind the high walls of Orval Abbey, monastic life follows its rhythm of prayer and work. While Trappist beer brings worldwide fame to the place, another product equally embodies the Cistercian philosophy: cheese. Produced for decades in the abbey's cheese dairy, this semi-hard cheese perpetuates a tradition dating back to the order's origins. Trappist monks have always sought self-sufficiency, and transforming milk into cheese meets this requirement to live from the fruit of their labour.
Orval cheese is distinguished by its orange washed rind and supple texture with a frank, slightly fruity taste. Unlike other Belgian monastic cheeses, it doesn't bear the Authentic Trappist Product logo, as its production has been entrusted to a secular structure while remaining under abbey supervision. This discretion is typically Trappist: no flashy marketing, just an honest product that speaks for itself.
A Favourable Gaume Terroir
Gaume offers ideal conditions for dairy farming. Its rolling meadows, limestone soils and temperate climate favour rich grass that gives milk all its character. Around Orval, several farms perpetuate this dairy tradition, even though cattle farming has declined due to agricultural depopulation. Trappist cheese fits into this fragile local economy, valorising ancestral know-how.
The production process respects traditional methods: curdling, moulding, ageing in humid cellars where cheeses are regularly washed with salted water. This daily attention develops the characteristic rind and refines the aromas. Each wheel carries months of patience, a cardinal virtue of monastic life.
Finding and Savouring This Discreet Cheese
Orval cheese isn't displayed in every supermarket. It's found at the abbey shop, in some specialised cheese shops in the region and at certain local markets. This confidential distribution makes it a sought-after product among lovers of characterful cheeses. It pairs remarkably well with country bread, some walnuts and, of course, a fresh Orval beer.
In Gaume, gastronomy is lived without fuss. Orval cheese illustrates this philosophy: an authentic product, rooted in a territory, carried by a community that prioritises quality over quantity. At a time when terroir has become an overused marketing argument, this cheese reminds us that a true terroir product doesn't shout, it's shared in silence around a table.
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