For those who’re a cheesehead, you’ll love our podcast “Welcome to cheeseland“! However for many who aren’t into podcasts, right here’s a abstract (not a transcript – you will discover that right here in its entirety) from the podcast so that you don’t miss out!
The French love their cheeses – and everybody else loves them too! I by no means a lot cared for cheese earlier than I moved to France however you possibly can hardly eat a bit of cheese with out somebody telling you a narrative about it and when meals comes with such a captivating historical past it’s exhausting to not get caught up.
So let’s dive into histories and extra of the stinkiest, weirdest and oldest cheeses of France… an homage to fromage.
Homage to Fromage
If you consider France – perhaps you get a picture of your head of a person carrying a baguette, maybe sporting a stripey Breton T-Shirt and perhaps sporting a beret. However for me, now that I stay right here, my picture of a typical French individual revolves round meals, sniffing wine and say “mmm …… “. Sure perhaps carrying a baguette or extra like consuming the top of it on the best way dwelling. Taking ages to select simply the precise cake in a cupboard filled with truffles. And discussing which cheese to purchase with the assistance of an affineur in a cheese store, a fromagerie.
An affineur is a cheese maturing specialist! Mainly, they get the cheese from the maker they usually take care of it, ripen and age it – they refine it till it’s excellent for consuming. So there are outlets throughout France run by affineurs who purchase the cheese in and simply as you lay wine down till it’s at its greatest, they nurture the cheese till its able to go on the shelf within the store.
They’re some well-known affineurs in France, they’re cheese celebrities, just like the Hollywood Stars of the cheese world, Philippe Olivier who’s from the north of France as an example, is a legend.
Cheese, to the French is a logo of Frenchness actually. And it’s greater than that as a result of cheeses are a regional image and they’re a logo in opposition to the mechanisation of meals as a result of the very best and most liked cheeses are sometimes made by hand, artisan merchandise. Though within the grocery store there are additionally a great deal of corporate-made cheeses too – entire aisles full of various cheeses.
Cheese legends
In somewhat restaurant in Le Touquet close to the place I stay, I ordered moules cooked in white wine and Reblochon cheese. It was scrumptious. And there was a girl on the desk subsequent to mine and she or he heard me say “I’ve by no means tried Reblochon earlier than in a sauce – it’s very nice”. She was a French girl and defined the story of Reblochon to me. It comes from Haute Savoie and comes from the phrase ‘reblocher’, actually: ‘to pinch a cow’s udder once more’. Within the 14th century, the French farmers had been taxed in line with how a lot milk their herds produced. The intelligent farmers thought if we solely partially milk the cows when the tax assessors are right here, wait till they go after which milk them once more – we’ll get monetary savings. In order that’s what they did and the second milking was extra full and wealthy they usually used to make Reblochon cheese.
The French love their cheese legends. It’s mentioned that “Le Banon” from Provence which is wrapped in chestnut leaves, prompted the dying of the roman Emperor Antoine Le Pieux (Antoninus Pious) via gluttony. He simply couldn’t get sufficient of it!
Cheese flavours every little thing in France and it is available in all styles and sizes, lined in ash, herbs, flowers, straw, leaves and all kinds of issues. One of many cheesiest cheese dishes ever is native for northern France – it’s known as Le Welsh…Some say that the Welsh archers of Agincourt fame made it standard, hmm I don’t assume so. Anyway it’s a bit like Welsh rarebit – a cheese and ham toasted sandwich, and it’s mainly cheese scorching away in a dish. Mainly it’s a bowl of melted cheese on high of a bit of bread and typically they use maroilles.
Pungent French cheeses
Maroilles was made by monks greater than 1300 years in the past within the city of Maroilles within the far north of France. The monks paid their taxes with it. It’s very very smelly. And it is available in many kinds together with spherical right here no less than, the well-known Boulette d’Avesnes nicknamed the ‘suppositoire du diable’ – the satan’s suppository, due to its pointed form and intense crimson color which comes from the paprika it’s lined in, in addition to pepper, tarragon, cloves and parsley. It’s been made for no less than 500 years and within the outdated days it was left to mature on windowsills for a month to dry – that will need to have been good for the neighbours!
I first ate Maroilles cheese in Lille in Nord. I’d been biking within the metropolis to see the websites with buddies and we had been actually hungry and wished actual meals afterwards. We went to the Guingette de la Marine, which is a kind of genuine little locations that pepper the area. There have been picket swings hanging from the ceiling in entrance of the bar, and outdated man with a hat sat there nursing his pastis and moaning about politicians. There was an outdated hurdy gurdy organ within the nook, fabulous French music performed – the kind you play in your radio station Oli, traditional and classic, and there was an enormous blackboard menu. On it was a dish known as flamiche Maroilles.
I requested my French buddies what it was – a kind of cheese pie they mentioned, with Maroilles they usually nodded to one another knowingly. They mentioned it was very robust, very pungent however much less so when cooked as it might be within the cheese pie. Effectively You would odor it earlier than the waitress got here from the kitchen… robust, earthy, highly effective. It was ferried throughout the room with reverence, it felt like everybody was watching its progress and I might nearly swear that I bought a nod or two from different diners – a kind of secret acknowledgement of my wonderful good style.
I felt like everybody was watching me as I tucked in. It was scorching, liquid, sticky, robust, full bodied, fermented and fruity and really very smelly with a simply trace of sweetness and – completely scrumptious. For me it was love at first chunk.
Scrumptious cheeses
One other unusually named cheese is crottin de Chavignol from close to Sancerre within the Loire Valley. Crottin is an outdated French phrase for sheep dropping! French meals isn’t all haute delicacies, it’s earthy too, I really like to consider some shepherd tons of of years in the past developing with this cheese combine and pondering hmmm – the place I’ve seen one thing like this earlier than?! It’s scrumptious – creamy and nutty, particularly good with a glass of Sancerre…
And the way a couple of slice of cheese that actually packs a punch. Vieux Boulogne, Previous Boulogne or because the locals name it ‘Previous Pungent’. It was examined by scientists within the UK who had been trying to classify the smelliest cheeses on the earth, and it was awarded first place. They used an “digital nostril” sensor however I might have guessed the result as I’ve smelled it myself from about 100 metres away from the place it was being bought. A creamy, cow’s milk that’s pungent, highly effective and pugnacious. You always remember your first time. Take pleasure in it with a glass of native beer and a picnic on the cliff tops of the attractive and uncrowded Opal Coast of northern France.
The most well-liked cheese in France
You may’t discuss French cheese with out mentioning France’s hottest cheese – Camembert. Legend has it that it was first made in 1791 by Marie Harel, a farmer from Normandy after she was given recommendation by a priest from Brie – the place one other well-known French cheese is made. Brie was invented by monks greater than 1200 years in the past and it was a favorite of the good Emperor Charlemagne who visited the priory the place it was made within the 12 months 774. He preferred it a lot he had it usually delivered to his fort.
1000 years later one other King liked it a lot it price him expensive. Louis XVIwas below home arrest in the course of the time of the French Revolution and was about to flee however he couldn’t resist feasting on Brie and crimson wine – and missed his probability… In French they are saying “La gourmandise te perdra” – greed might be your downfall.
Camembert is named the King of Cheeses. Within the early 1800s a collection of diplomatic conferences had been held in Europe known as the Congress of Vienna. Throughout a break, the diplomats held a cheese contest – recommended by the French delegation after all! Greater than sixty sorts of cheese had been introduced, together with English stilton, Dutch Limberger, Italian Strachino and Swiss Gruyere. The French Duke de Talleyrand waited till the top, and had Brie introduced in. Everybody needed to vote, and Brie was declared the winner: ‘Le Roi des Fromages’ (King Of Cheeses). I really like that – all these outdated geezers, as a result of I doubt there have been any ladies concerned within the assembly then, all actually critical, taking themselves extra critically than something, after which having a cheese consuming contest!
The oldest cheese in France
Cantal cheese is so outdated that the Romans knew about this cheese, Pliny the Elder talked about it in his writings. It’s a cows milk cheese made in Auvergne and named after the Cantal Mountains. And it’s the one French cheese made like an English cheddar! And this can be a large cheese, a spherical of Cantal can weigh as much as 100 kilos! It’s very good with somewhat glass of recent crimson, like a Beaujolais. The cheese tastes of the flowers and the herbs of the mountains. For those who go to the area and discover a farm the place they make it the custom approach, get some butter to go along with a baguette and your cheese – they scrape the cream off the whey from the cheese and if it’s an actual artisan maker they put the cream in a bucket and simply churn it with their naked palms. It’s wonderful to see, to odor, to style…
The weirdest cheese in France
The weirdest cheese I’ve ever heard of is casu Marzu. I visited Corsica on an excellent cruise with CroisiEurope – which I completely suggest by the best way, and we had been strolling via a beautiful city known as Porto Vecchio and the information was telling me in regards to the native specialities and he talked about what he known as “wormy cheese.” He mentioned you possibly can’t purchase it any extra because it’s unlawful to promote it although he mentioned he knew of somebody who nonetheless made it. Anyway it’s not wormy cheese – it’s maggoty cheese. It originates from the island of Sardinia which may be very near Corsica. It holds the Guinness E book of Information for world’s most harmful cheese.
Mainly it’s a sheep cheese and flies lay eggs on the cheese after which they hatch and the maggots flip the cheese right into a mushy creamy cheese. The information assured me that whenever you open the cheese up it’s filled with maggots and folks eat the whole thing. However some individuals eliminate the worms, they retailer the cheese in Brandy after which unfold it on toast. The information didn’t assume it was bizarre, however a convention! Some individuals say that it might stand up and stroll due to the critters inside…
Some even say it’s an aphrodisiac.
Very French cheeses
Mimolette additionally has bugs on it. It’s often known as Boule de Lille after its metropolis of origin, or Vieux Hollande as a result of it’s a bit like Edam cheese from Holland. It has an extended historical past and was commissioned by the French King Louis XIV. Or that’s what they are saying… some individuals assume it has at all times been made in France however was rebranded to swimsuit the instances however nobody is aware of for positive. Legend has it that within the 1600’s the King decreed that the importation of overseas merchandise to France was to be actively averted. He wished French items to take their place so he put restrictions on imports included Edam which was very fashionable and everybody was very upset. So the King demanded {that a} French various be discovered, and if there wasn’t one – make one.
So, the cheese makers of Lille got here up with a cow’s milk cheese in a ball form weighing round 2kg with an orange rind created by introducing a pure dye known as Anatto (this was used to distinguish it from Edam). However they didn’t cease there – these intelligent cheese makers discovered a approach so as to add further flavour by introducing little cheese mites, microscopic organisms, which create holes within the floor. They’re dismissed occasionally within the cheese making course of, however some stay.
Mont d’Or –is one among only a handful of cheeses you eat with a spoon! In France it’s seen as the very best of the uncooked milk cheeses and whenever you style it for the primary time – you’ll perceive why. It’s made in Franche-Comté (east of France) and ripened in wooden circumstances which supplies it a barely woody style. It was a favorite fromage of King Louis XV. It is just made between mid-August and mid-March. And solely eleven factories within the French Jura area are licensed to provide it. It’s a protected cheese and there’s nothing else fairly prefer it.
For those who get a extremely ripe Mont d’Or you possibly can eat it straight out of the pot. Dip in a bit of recent baguette and scoop it up, or slather it on with a spoon! It’s got a scrumptious nutty, earthy style. Or you possibly can bake it too – that’s a extremely standard option to eat it in France because it brings out much more flavour.
Enjoyable French cheese info
Yearly in France there are a load of cheese competitions for the very best affineur, the very best cheese maker, the very best cheeses, goats cheese. That’s the Concours Nationwide des Fromages, the Salon du fromage and the Mondiale du fromage – the world cup of cheese making. At this contest candidates from around the globe must make and mature the cheese, then minimize and sculpture it for presentation on a cheese platter.
French individuals don’t say fromage for pictures. We are saying cheese in English when posing and wish to have an enormous smile. For those who say fromage, you gained’t be left smiling however wanting barely demented together with your lips puckered in a kind of goat face approach. Nope the French say “marmoset”! Besides they are saying it in French which is ‘oustitii’ – should you’re listening – give it a go, it pulls your smile proper out.
President Charles de Gaulle famously mentioned: How are you going to govern a rustic which has 200 and forty-six sorts of cheese?” Effectively outdated Charlie was a bit off the mark with that quantity as a result of there are such a lot of greater than that. In actual fact no one is aware of what number of sorts of cheeses there are – greater than a thousand, perhaps 1300, perhaps extra! Simply assume in case you are a cheese head, you could possibly eat a special cheese daily of the 12 months for 3 years. A problem I’d willingly take up (excluding that Corsican cheese I discussed).
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Janine Marsh is Creator of My Good Life in France: In Pursuit of the Rural Dream, My 4 Seasons in France: A Yr of the Good Life and Toujours la France: Dwelling the Dream in Rural France all out there as e-book, print & audio, on Amazon all over the place & all good bookshops on-line.
