France quite rightly boasts of having a cheese for every day of the year (The UK has over 700, but don't mention it to a Frenchman).
I've lived south of La Manche for the past 40 years, and I can confirm unequivocally that most cheeses here are tasteless, uninteresting, and fit only for the pig trough.
Above is a typical daily Magnon cheeseboard which contains 3 quite different cheeses that I can recommend without the slightest hesitation. Firstly a simple cheap 'Chevre' (goat's milk cheese), that needs to be kept out of the fridge until it feels really soft and runny (dee-bloody-lish). Then Saint Agur, an industrially produced blue cheese that is always deliciously strong and creamy (I almost prefer this to most Roqueforts). And lastly a Dutch Gouda with Cummin seeds, which caters for my addiction to this wonderful spice.
Otherwise we tend to eat President 'Campagne' Camembert, Brie occasionally, and (when we can afford it) vieux Cantal. This may sound a bit limited, but five out of 365 ain't that bad.
mmmmm cheese. I do enjoy a bit of goat's cheese with just a splash of honey.
ReplyDeleteThese sound nice, I love to have a mature cheese and quince paste yumm..
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add how much I miss good mature English or Canadian CHEDDAR.
ReplyDeleteThat Gouda with Cummin seeds sounds lovely.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading Crow's blog - she keeps goats, and was surprised how easy it is to make goats cheese - really good goats cheese (which is quite expensive to buy in the UK)
Have a look -
http://willowcrow.blogspot.com/2011/08/another.html
I'm going to have to find space for a coupe of goats.
I forgot to mention British cheese in my food post, Cro, but it's true - we now have twice as many regional, artisan cheeses as France! Waitrose tried to sell a French cheese which was saturated with black truffle a few years ago, but it was so ludicrously expensive that nobody bought it. So I bought the lot for the same price as cheap Cheddar. Those were the days.
ReplyDeleteI once bought a load of Vieux Cantal that was on VERY special offer (cheap), because it was showing signs of blue streaks. Had they put the price UP, and said it was a particularly rare cheese, I probably would have bought the same amount!
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris.... I visited.
ReplyDeleteI would gladly trade places with you because we love French cheese. The cheese lady was our favorite stop when we were in Provence, followed closely by the little goat cheese booth.
ReplyDeleteSam
I happen to like you you old rubbish you so stop trashing your own blog.Besides, you own a "cheeseboard" that makes you ultra high class in these here Midwest parts
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Cheese is getting so expensive here, but I love to have it as a snack whenever I can. It's fun to hear about the different kinds you've tried.
ReplyDeleteSam. I see from your profile that you are a fan of Barefoot Man. He used to play at one of the beach clubs on Grand Cayman; I saw him many times. He was good!
ReplyDeleteIn the UK I love Cheddar and Wensleydale. In France it's Cantal, goat's cheese and Eco Brie! Was red wine invented to go with cheese, or cheese invented to go with red wine?
ReplyDeleteHello again, Cro.
ReplyDeleteI've listed you as a 'versatile blogger' so please feel free to accept and copy/paste this logo onto your blog.
http://growfisheat.blogspot.com/2011/08/and-nominations-are.html
If you accept the idea is (I think) to continue the link...
All the best
Chris.
x
Me too! I write any old rubbish that comes into my head also! But I love your blog and all the others I follow as well! That's why I never watch TV! (Note the BIG exclamation marks!!)
ReplyDeleteThe Gouda looks very gouda.
ReplyDelete