France makes a whole bunch of cheeses, and attempting them the place they’re made is likely one of the nice pleasures of a visit. Should you solely bear in mind one factor, bear in mind the households: smooth bloomy-rind cheeses (Brie, Camembert), pungent washed-rind cheeses (Époisses, Munster), agency Alpine cheeses (Comté, Beaufort), tangy goat cheeses and blue cheeses led by Roquefort. Style at the very least one from every group, purchase from a cheese store (fromagerie) or market relatively than a grocery store, and eat them the French approach: after the principle course, with bread, earlier than dessert.
This information explains how French cheese is labeled, which cheeses to search for in every household and area, how one can store at a fromagerie, the essential etiquette on the desk and what to know earlier than packing cheese in your suitcase.
How French Cheese Is Categorised
There isn’t any single official listing of “varieties”, however French cheesemongers normally group cheeses by milk and by rind, which tells you numerous about texture and power.
- Milk: cow (vache), goat (chèvre) or sheep (brebis). Labels present it, and plenty of retailers prepare their counters this manner.
- Uncooked or pasteurized: au lait cru means uncooked milk, which normally provides a extra advanced taste. Most of the most well-known conventional cheeses are made solely from uncooked milk. Pregnant vacationers are typically suggested to keep away from raw-milk and smooth cheeses; ask your physician.
- Farm or dairy: fermier means made on the farm with the farm’s personal milk; laitier or industriel means made in a dairy from collected milk.
- AOP: the red-and-yellow AOP emblem (Appellation d’Origine Protégée) ensures that the cheese comes from an outlined space and follows set guidelines on milk, breeds and getting old. France has greater than 40 AOP cheeses, and the label is a dependable shortcut to conventional variations.
- IGP and Label Rouge: IGP (blue-and-yellow emblem) additionally ties a cheese to a area however with looser guidelines; Label Rouge is a French high quality mark.
| Household | Texture and style | Basic examples |
|---|---|---|
| Gentle, bloomy rind | Creamy, white velvety rind, delicate to mushroomy | Brie de Meaux, Camembert de Normandie, Chaource, Brillat-Savarin |
| Washed rind | Sticky orange rind, sturdy scent, usually milder inside | Époisses, Munster, Maroilles, Livarot, Pont-l’Évêque |
| Pressed, raw | Supple to agency, nutty and lactic | Reblochon, Saint-Nectaire, Cantal, Morbier, Tomme de Savoie |
| Pressed, cooked (Alpine) | Agency, fruity, long-aged | Comté, Beaufort, Abondance |
| Goat | Recent and lemony to dense and nutty | Crottin de Chavignol, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Valençay |
| Blue | Salty, sharp, creamy | Roquefort, Bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d’Ambert |
Gentle Cheeses: Brie and Camembert
These are the cheeses most guests know, however the true factor tastes very totally different from export variations. Brie de Meaux and the stronger Brie de Melun come from the countryside east of Paris and are produced from uncooked cow’s milk. Camembert de Normandie AOP is raw-milk and ladled into molds by hand; a plain “camembert” with out the AOP point out could be made anyplace and from pasteurized milk.
Ask for a cheese that’s à level (completely ripe): smooth proper to the middle, with no chalky core, smelling of mushrooms relatively than ammonia. Different smooth cheeses value attempting are Chaource from Champagne, the heart-shaped Neufchâtel from Normandy and the wealthy triple-cream Brillat-Savarin.
Washed-Rind Cheeses: Époisses, Munster and Associates
Washed-rind cheeses are brushed with brine, beer or spirits whereas they age, which inspires an orange, sticky rind and a strong scent. The paste inside is normally softer and gentler than the aroma suggests.
- Époisses (Burgundy): washed with marc de Bourgogne brandy, runny when ripe, usually eaten with a spoon.
- Munster (Alsace and the Vosges): historically served with boiled potatoes and cumin seeds.
- Maroilles (northern France): sq., daring, used within the regional tart referred to as flamiche.
- Livarot and Pont-l’Évêque (Normandy): the opposite two traditional Normandy cheeses alongside Camembert.
- Langres (Champagne): with a hole on prime that’s generally stuffed with a splash of Champagne or marc.
Should you like sturdy flavors, these are the cheeses that almost all shock guests. Additionally they function in our have a look at bizarre French meals for good purpose.
Onerous and Alpine Cheeses: Comté, Beaufort and Extra
The mountains of japanese France produce huge wheels of cooked, pressed cheese that preserve effectively and journey simply. Comté from the Jura is France’s best-selling AOP cheese and modifications quite a bit with age: younger Comté (round 4 to eight months) is delicate and milky, whereas 18 to 24 months or extra brings crunchy crystals and flavors of roasted nuts and caramel. Attempt two ages facet by facet.
Beaufort from Savoie is agency and floral; the summer season model produced from mountain pasture milk is labeled Beaufort d’été or chalet d’alpage. Abondance, Tomme de Savoie and Reblochon (the bottom of tartiflette) full the Alpine vary, and raclette and fondue are made with these mountain cheeses. Within the Massif Central, search for Saint-Nectaire, Cantal, Salers and Laguiole. Within the Basque Nation and Béarn, the sheep’s milk Ossau-Iraty is commonly served with black cherry jam.
A seasonal deal with: Mont d’Or (Vacherin du Haut-Doubs) is made solely within the cooler months and offered roughly from autumn to spring in a spruce field, another reason to go to France in autumn. Locals bake it entire and dip potatoes into it.
Goat and Blue Cheeses
Goat cheeses
The Loire Valley and the Centre area are goat cheese nation. Sainte-Maure de Touraine is a log with a straw operating by it, Valençay a pyramid with a flat prime, Selles-sur-Cher a disk dusted with ash, and Crottin de Chavignol a small drum from close to Sancerre that pairs famously with Sancerre white wine. Within the southwest, small Rocamadour disks are sometimes served heat on salad, and in Provence Banon comes wrapped in chestnut leaves.
Blue cheeses
Roquefort is produced from uncooked sheep’s milk and aged within the pure caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in Aveyron, the place a number of producers provide cave visits. Milder choices embody Bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d’Ambert (one of many gentlest blues) and Bleu des Causses. Blues pair effectively with candy wines comparable to Sauternes.
Cheese by Area
Each area has its personal cheeses, so ordering native is the simplest method to eat effectively. Use this desk as a cheat sheet once you journey.
| Area | Cheeses to strive | How locals eat them |
|---|---|---|
| Paris and Île-de-France | Brie de Meaux, Brie de Melun, Coulommiers | On a cheese plate or in a baguette sandwich |
| Normandy | Camembert, Livarot, Pont-l’Évêque, Neufchâtel | With cider or calvados; baked Camembert |
| Burgundy and Champagne | Époisses, Langres, Chaource | Cheese course; gougères (cheese puffs) |
| Alsace and Lorraine | Munster | With potatoes and cumin; with Alsace white wine |
| Jura and Franche-Comté | Comté, Morbier, Mont d’Or | Aged Comté with Jura vin jaune; baked Mont d’Or |
| Savoie and the Alps | Beaufort, Reblochon, Abondance, Tomme de Savoie | Fondue, raclette, tartiflette |
| Auvergne | Saint-Nectaire, Cantal, Salers, Fourme d’Ambert | Truffade (potatoes with tomme fraîche) |
| Loire Valley and Centre | Sainte-Maure, Valençay, Selles-sur-Cher, Crottin de Chavignol | With Loire white wines |
| Southwest and Pyrenees | Roquefort, Rocamadour, Ossau-Iraty | Roquefort with walnuts; Ossau-Iraty with cherry jam |
| Provence | Banon, native contemporary goat cheeses | On salads or with olive oil and herbs |
For the dishes these cheeses find yourself in, see our guides to conventional French dishes and what to eat in France.
How you can Purchase at a Fromagerie
fromager ages cheese in their very own cellars and can fortunately information you. Markets are simply pretty much as good, and plenty of cities have a weekly market with a cheese stall run by producers.
- Greet first. Say “bonjour” once you stroll in; it issues in any French store.
- Say when you’ll eat it. “Pour ce soir” (for tonight) or “pour dans trois jours” (in three days) lets the cheesemonger select a cheese on the proper stage.
- Ask to style. “Je peux goûter ?” is regular for laborious cheeses like Comté.
- Purchase by weight or piece. For a plate for 2, round 3 to 4 cheeses and 50 to 100 g of every is loads. Small cheeses (crottins, Camemberts) are offered entire.
- Construct a balanced plate. One smooth, one laborious, one goat, one blue or washed-rind provides selection.
- Ask for vacuum packing (“sous vide, s’il vous plaît”) if you’re touring with it; many retailers can do it.
Supermarkets promote respectable on a regular basis cheese, however the expertise and the selection in a fromagerie or market are much better. In Paris, the greatest meals markets are a simple place to begin.
Cheese Etiquette in France
- Order of the meal: cheese comes after the principle course and earlier than dessert, generally with a inexperienced salad. It’s usually provided as a substitute for dessert in eating places (“fromage ou dessert”).
- Bread, not crackers: eat cheese on items of baguette or nation bread. Butter just isn’t used with cheese, besides generally with Roquefort.
- Lower pretty: by no means reduce the tip (“nostril”) off a wedge of Brie; reduce alongside the facet so everybody will get some middle and a few rind. Spherical cheeses are reduce like a cake, logs into rounds and laborious wedges in slices.
- Take as soon as: when a cheese platter is handed at a dinner, serve your self as soon as and move it on; a second serving to is obtainable, not taken.
- Rinds: consuming the rind of soppy cheeses is regular; depart laborious, waxed or very crusty rinds.
- Wine: native pairings hardly ever go improper, and white wines usually match cheese higher than heavy reds.
If you’re invited to a French residence, our information to internet hosting a French banquet explains how the cheese course matches into the night.
Taking Cheese Residence
Guidelines rely on the place you’re going, and so they change, so examine official steerage earlier than you pack:
- United States: strong cheese with out meat is mostly allowed for private use, however it’s essential to declare all meals to US Customs and Border Safety. Liquid or very runny cheeses could be refused, and a few particular cheeses have been restricted up to now.
- United Kingdom: since April 2025, vacationers to Nice Britain can’t convey cheese and different dairy or meat merchandise from the EU for private use, even when vacuum-packed or purchased in responsibility free, due to animal illness controls. Test gov.uk for any replace.
- Different international locations: Australia, New Zealand and Canada have their very own strict biosecurity guidelines; declare all the things.
- Packing: laborious cheeses journey greatest. Vacuum-pack, preserve it cool and put sturdy washed-rind cheeses in a number of layers to guard your garments.
Abstract
French cheese makes most sense by household and by area: strive a ripe Brie or Camembert, a pungent Époisses or Munster, an aged Comté, a Loire goat cheese and a Roquefort, then comply with native specialties as you journey. Search for the AOP emblem, store at fromageries and markets, inform the cheesemonger when you’ll eat it, eat cheese with bread between the principle course and dessert, and examine customs guidelines earlier than carrying any residence.
