Epoisses – the king of cheeses

Like many cheeses, Epoisses is named after the village in France where it’s made. And also like many of our cheeses,  has a long and fascinating history but before we get to that, let me tell you how delicious it is!

It’s a beautifully creamy cheese – very smooth and flavorful – created from cows milk and its manufacture is strictly regulated. Serve it straight from its container – a traditional circular wooden box – with fresh French bread and a great wine.

It’s said that it was originally made by Cisterian monks as long ago as the beginning of the fifteenth century. When this community left the area, about two hundred years later, the local farmers continued to make the cheese. The story goes that they gave the local villagers their original secret recipe.  Napoleon was a huge fan of this cheese and gastronome Brillat-Savarin referred to it as ‘the king of cheeses’.

Production continued right until the Second World War. The war in Europe devastated the area and destroyed almost the entire male population. As the women had to now work the fields, cheese production dwindled away.

However, there were still people who knew the original recipe for the cheese first created by the Cisterian monks. In the mid nineteen fifties, a couple who had a small farm, started to produce the cheese. The rest, as they say, is history.

Don’t just serve cheese – serve history, and impress your guests