Tuesday Tasters – French cheeses
This week, we selected some French cheeses for our Tuesday Tasters. We believe that there is at least one French cheese for every day of the year and we have a fine selection so we had plenty to choose from! We were looking forward to hearing what they had to say so here goes!
“French cheese … mmm. I thought I knew French cheeses. I was SO wrong. The first cheese we tried was the comté. From the Cheese Culture’s blog, I realized that this was a very special cheese. It’s very stringently regulated and only the top fifteen percent of these cheeses get the coveted ‘green label’. Of course, the cheese that they have in stock is one of that top fifteen percent. This was delicious on its own but also incredible with a little Provençal honey on a gourmet cracker.
Next, we tried the Morbier. I’d seen this cheese in the store and it looks very distinctive. It has a horizontal grey/blue streak running through it. I had seen this cheese and wrongly assumed that it was a streak of blue cheese. It’s actually far more interesting. At the end of the cheese-making day, farmers have leftover curds. They put these into a mold and cover it with ash. Then, the next day they add curds from the morning’s milking. The streak is the ash. Fascinating! This cheese is completely delicious with fresh bread. We also enjoyed it with sliced pear.
However, I have saved the best until last. Epoisses. It’s described as ‘the king of cheeses’. Cheese Culture’s blog says that it was Napoleon’s favorite cheese and I’m not surprised. Epoisses comes in a traditional circular wooden box. Once this cheese is at room temperature, it becomes – there’s no other word – gooey. It’s totally delightful.
Take a portion of cracker and scoop a little Epoisses straight from the box. Heaven. Although we like to try our cheeses with goodies such as chutneys, preserves, fruit and another accompaniments, I just didn’t want to try this cheese with anything else at all. It is perfect just as it is.
If you only buy one cheese this week, make it Epoisses. Tremendous.”
Do you agree? Have you tried these three French cheeses? Like all our cheeses, Epoisses has a limited availability. Don’t miss this special gourmet delight.
Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178
