Fresh tome from the Aubrac, the soul of aligot

If you could keep only one ingredient of aligot, it would be this one. Without fresh tome, you can make a very good cheesy mash. But not an aligot.

A young cheese

Fresh tome from the Aubrac, also called tome de Laguiole, is an uncooked pressed cheese. It is eaten young, barely aged or not at all. That is what gives it its fresh milk taste, and also what lets it become elastic when you heat and work it.

Tome or tomme?

Both spellings exist. We chose "tome" on this site, without starting a holy war.

Why it can't be replaced

Some use Gruyère, Emmental or Cantal. The result can be good, but the texture is no longer the same, and the taste drifts away from the original aligot. Fresh tome is what gives the strand, the elasticity and that milky taste.

How to choose it

• Ask a cheesemonger for "fresh tome for aligot": they will understand immediately.
• It should be supple and smell of fresh milk.
• Use it quickly: it is a fresh cheese and doesn't keep like a cellar-aged one.

How to work it

Cut into thin slices and added little by little to the hot mash, always stirring in the same direction. All the details are in the aligot recipe.