Our nearby small town runs an annual gourmet food market; regular readers may remember my purchase of Sardines.
One of the regular exhibitors is the producer of the above cheese, and he and my lovely farmer neighbour L have become friends.
Recently, she sent me an Email asking if I'd like to buy a whole 2 Kg cheese; of course my reply was 'Yes'. During the lockdown, the producer is having difficulty selling his cheeses, so L promised to help-out.
Yesterday she arrived at the house with our cheese. 2 kgs of wonderful farm-produced St Nectaire. It's a big cheese, so three seperate quarters have gone to the freezer (I'm assured this is fine); we kept just one quarter for eating now. I believe she has found homes for 20 whole cheeses; what a good gal she is.
St Nectaire is an unpasteurised, farm-produced, Cow's milk cheese, which comes from the mountainous region of Cantal and Puy-de-Dome (The Auvergne). It has a thin mould covered crust, and inside is pliable, creamy, and slightly nutty in flavour. Delicious.
A classic example of farmer helping farmer. Well done L.
31 comments:
This looks wonderful. Does it turn creamier as it matures?
I really don't know. I think it's designed to be eaten at a certain age. It's not one of those cheeses (like Cheddar) that improves with age.
Lucky you. It does look good - I love cheese.
It's a soft-ish cheese, with a delicate hazelnut flavour; very pleasant.
Yum!!! That looks really wonderful, Cro. I wish I had some of that cheese with good wheat crackers and some tart apple slices!
Good to read there's still local producers supplying local needs; and consumers supporting local producers.
Sadly this doesn't seem to happen here
You'd love it... straight from the mountains.
I agree, it's good to see some of the old fashioned camaraderie again. I'd thought it had all gone.
I've often wondered about freezing cheese. I must give it a go. (That cheese looks wonderful by the way.)
Oh gosh, that looks good. My other half would love that. He is a veritable cheese-monster. He would eat it all day long, and often does.
My neighbour, L, assured me that it freezes very well.
Looks good, and tastes good. Proof that farm over factory wins every time.
I don't get it. Is the cheese marmot flavoured?
The Marmottes act as Cowherds, and keep them all in order... rather like a Border Collie.
That looks delicious. You have now added greatly to your supplies and helped the farmer out as well .. win, win. XXXX
My Dutch friends have cheese at every meal - I could but resist the temptation. This one looks so good that my mouth is watering.
You have some bloody big marmots in France! Quelle horreur! It's bigger than a cow. No wonder the cows obey.
A definite win-win situation. The cheese looks delicious.
That's right; winners everywhere.
We have cheese every lunchtime. Soup, salad, cheese, fruit.
It's very good, we've just finished the piece in the photo.
That cheese looks wonderful. Wish we had cheese producers here. We keep cheese in the freezer and it comes out fine, maybe a little crumblier.
Good eating!
I've never needed to freeze cheese before, so I'm interested to see how it comes out. I don't normally buy such big quantities.
Now I wish I had some cheese in the house. It looks great.
There's a lot of it too. Not one of our usual cheeses, but really delicious.
That's the difference between English speaking countries and the motherland. In the motherland no one taking a photo will say "cheese" to make you smile. They just tell you to smile. Not that smiling is a hardship to me. Comes naturally.
Oh my god. Cheese. One of heaven's delights. One mistake the less connaisseurial (just invented a word there, Cro) make is to not let cheese come to room temperature before diving in.
Yes, great initiative there. I am certain, or at least hope, that out of necessity of our nose diving economies many good ideas how to stay in business will come. Niches as yet unexplored.
In the meantime enjoy, and why didn't I think of moving to the Auvergne?
U
When I first moved here in '72, everyone helped everyone else. This attitude slowly faded as crops and machinery evolved. It now looks as if some resemblance of those 'old days' is returning. People are talking of a return to the land; chickens, pigs, vegetables. I do hope this continues; it's how we all really ought to live.
very jealous... would love some of those cheeses!!
Ah, a Murmeltier. I’ve seen some big ones in East Tirol. One time I was running on a mountain near Lienz when I one of them literally came whistling by through the heather. I’m a great fan of them. The biggest one I ever saw came begging for my picnic possibly a cheese sandwich. I had to shoo it away.
I'm even jealous of myself!
I've never seen one, but I remember my children learning about them in school; I had no idea what they were.
Post a Comment