Montbéliard sausage: how to recognize it and where to buy it

In the heart of these magnificent and often cold landscapes, the farmhouses of the Haut-Doubs region were home to the "tuyé", a hearth and flue that allowed charcuterie to be smoked while heating the house. The tradition has remained, forging a know-how that has stabilized over the years. Today, there are 22 producers of Montbéliard sausages, producing around 4,600 tonnes a year.

How to recognize it?

The Montbéliard sausage is easily distinguished from its sister: it is thinner (25 mm in diameter), smaller (15 cm) and curved at both ends, unlike the morteau, which is straight, larger (20 cm long, 40 mm in diameter) and fatter. Both sausages are made exclusively from pork fed on the whey of local cows (notably the Montbéliarde), seasoned with spices (pepper and cumin are obligatory in the Montbéliard) and encased in pork casing.

How is it prepared?

Montbéliard (like morteau) is usually poached in boiling water (for around 25 minutes) and sliced into rounds. It is then eaten warm with potatoes, sauerkraut cabbage or even river fish.

Les Salaisons Bouhéret ❤

The Bouhéret family includes Jules, his son Adrien (the man behind the recognition of Label Rouge Morteau sausage), Jean-Christophe and today Simon, who maintains tradition and know-how: a smokehouse using sawdust from Haut-Doubs coniferous wood for tuyé only, 100% Franc-Comtois pork for sausages. The company, which employs around ten people, produces Label Rouge sausages sold only in the best delicatessens, butchers, palaces, etc.

Tasting notes: Attractive appearance, a little fatty, heterogeneous, homemade, pleasant, straightforward nose, nice salty smokiness. The slice is firm when cut, supple and dense, the palate is rustic, with good flesh, sapid and unctuous, with personality and good chewiness.

• Price: 5.80 euros per pack of 2 (300g)
• 4 bis, rue de l'Étang 25500 Noël-Cerneux
• www.salaisons-bouheret.com

Salaisons Renaudot, Aux Saveurs des Sapins

The Renaudot production facility, established in the region since 1992, produces 55 tons of montbéliard and 88 tons of morteau. Multi-awarded, the montbéliard won a gold medal at the Concours Général Agricole 2023. Meat is sourced from local farms and seasoned with Label Rouge Guérande salt.

Tasting notes: A fine, lean minced meat with a good, frank smokiness and a pleasant, powerful nose. The texture, due to mincing, is a little smooth, the taste homogeneous, slightly soapy on the finish, of good composition, with character and typicity.

• Price: 18.60 euros per kg
• 20, route de Maiche, 25500 Les Fins

Le Tuyé de Mésandans

Thirty-two years of experience, 250 tons of products produced per year, a large number of medals, including gold for the IGP Montbéliard sausage at the regional competition in 2018. The workshop also produces exclusive products such as the "Belle de Mésandans", the "Saucillotte" (a cooked sausage made from metton), the "Brunette comtoise" (a miniature sausage) and the "Montbéliard".Brunette comtoise" (smoked minisausage made with Franc-Comtois cheese) or the "Chorisson" (lightly spiced dry sausage).

Tasting notes: Artisanal appearance, slightly fatty, irregularly chopped, spicy aromas - four-spice type - pleasant texture, fat and lean well blended with a very thin skin. Not very long on the palate, with a slight bitterness on the finish, but well-made and consensual.

• Price: 17.90 euros per kg
• ZA en Chandin, 25680 Mésandans
• www.letuyedemesandans.fr

Aux Produits Saugets

In 1974, Louis Vonin founded this Franc-Comtois company specializing in the production of local cured meats, which has since been taken over by his three sons, Michel, Denis and Bertrand. Cooked ham, Morteau and Montbéliard sausages are smoked with spruce sawdust in the tuyé, following ancestral methods.

Tasting notes: A pale pink slice, finely chopped, with little fat. The nose is simple and direct, meaty, with a good balance of spice. The texture is supple, elastic with good hold, the taste is quite elegant, almost floral, balanced and relatively classic.

• Price: 4.50 euros per pack of 2
• www.auxproduitssaugets.fr
• 2, route Nationale, 25650 Maisons-du-Bois-Lièvremont

Papy Gaby's Tuyé

Gabriel Marquet, known as Papy Gaby, built his own tuyé in 1973. The house is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with Pascal Nicolet, who has taken over the family tradition (dry salt salting, drying, smoking) since 2014. Free on-site tours (museum, history, production and tasting area).

Tasting notes: Brilliant when cut, a good smokiness, pleasant with its expected hint of spice. Supple texture, juicy flesh without excess, fairly thin skin. On the palate, a sensation of good lean-fat balance, lacking a little character, with a finish of salt and smokiness.

• Price: 5.35 euros per pack of 2 (340g)
• 2, rue des Cotey, 25560 Gilley
• www.tuye-papygaby.com

Saborec

An 11-person company, founded in 1971 and taken over in 2003 by Etablissements Roux, that makes smoked cured meats in traditional smokehouses, meat preparations and pre-cooked sausages. meat and pre-cooked sausages, morteau, montbéliard, "old-fashioned" sausages made exclusively from coarsely minced Franche-Comté pork. On sale in supermarkets and hypermarkets.

Tasting notes: A well-crafted product, with a frank appearance and a spicy nose marked by smokiness and cumin. The flesh is juicy, almost too much so, tender on the palate with a well-spiced flavor.

• 1, rue les Greppes, 90100 Fêche-l'Église
• Price: 5.72 euros per pack of 2

Lehmann

Known for its cheeses, the young Lehmann family company has been making charcuterie-salaisons products since 2021, including Morteau and Montbéliard sausages, as well as a smoked sausagee (with cabbage, cumin, Comté or Savagnin), terrines, a range of hams... all of which demonstrate the adaptability of this small workshop based in Étupes.

Tasting notes: A fine minced meat with smooth, flawless meat of a good standard, both on the nose and in the mouth. The balance is there between smokiness and spiciness, the product lacks a little character but gives a good overall impression, with well-dosed ingredients.

• Price: 3.90 euros per piece (130g)
• 390, avenue René-Jacquot, 25460 Étupes
• www.la-cave-aux-fromages.fr

Chapuis Salaisons

In the Haut-Doubs region of France, the Chapuis company's expertise is punctuated by its history: 1920, creation of the Chapuis butchery and delicatessen; 1977, award of the IGP label; 2006, award of the Label rouge as a founding member, member and manufacturer of morteau and montbéliard (this label guarantees a minimum of 48 hours' smoking in tuyé); 2021, creation of a bar-restaurant and a sales outlet for regional products, opening up new outlets.

Tasting notes: Pale pink flesh, like a fresh charcuterie, with beige skin, as if undercooked. The smokiness is nonetheless present, simple and direct on the nose. The flesh is quite firm, with fine skin, a little salty, with a peppery finish.

• Price: 18 euros per kg
• 17, rue du Soleil-Couchant , 25130 Villers-le-Lac
• www.chapuis-salaisons.fr