|
Post by Jody on Jul 28, 2008 6:26:45 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by chicchantal on Jul 28, 2008 10:41:55 GMT -5
Thank you for that . . . what a lovely article. The trouble with French cheese is you eat a corker in a resto and forget the name and you can never ever find it again.
|
|
|
Post by Jody on Jul 28, 2008 12:38:49 GMT -5
Exactly, chantal! i always mean to write the names down and I neever do
|
|
|
Post by Happygoin on Jul 28, 2008 13:25:19 GMT -5
I have that same problem and I'm at my local Whole Foods! Honestly, they have the best French cheeses and I never remember which ones I've tried and which ones I haven't. I served a gorgeous St. Agur blue yesterday. I recommend it highly. PS. I love that quote by someone famous (was it DeGaulle? ) who said, "How can anyone possibly govern a nation with 328 different varieties of cheese"...or something like that.
|
|
|
Post by sunshine817 on Jul 28, 2008 15:42:13 GMT -5
Whole Foods and Wild Oats make me crazy -- they have all my favorite French fromages, but the prices are so high, all I can do is press my nose against the glass and sigh heavily!
Yes, it was DeGaulle.
|
|
|
Post by chicchantal on Jul 31, 2008 13:22:54 GMT -5
I would do a cheese poll if I knew the names. Or maybe we could break it down as goat, sheep, cow, yak or buffallo? I'm definitely a goat girl, the goatier the better, in fact. I love the way it goes brown and crusty under the grill. Oooo . . .
|
|
|
Post by Happygoin on Jul 31, 2008 13:32:51 GMT -5
I'm with you, CC. I have a friend though, who hates it and swears it tastes like goat. I just hate it when she says that . I make pizza often in the cooler weather and it invariably has goat cheese on it (unless it's the cremini mushroom/tallegio/truffle oil pizza, but that's another story)
|
|
|
Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jul 31, 2008 14:49:20 GMT -5
Fun article - cheese is always high on my list for French food! My own favorites include bleu d'Auvergne (very mild bleu), under-ripe (by French standards) brie and camembert, chevre (especially the fresh ones, warmed and put on greens for a salad), and - special favorite - Trappe d'Echourgnac. As the name suggests, this latter is made in a religious (I'm taking a wild guess here - must be Trappist?) house in the western Dordogne region (Eschourgnac is near Bergerac). It's a mild cow's milk cheese, with a thin rind (edible) of crushed walnuts, and it's delicious! (Also, although we had trouble locating it at first, we now know it's available at Intermarche and Leclerc markets - had a lot of it on the last trip, LOL!) Of course, for the faves not made in France I would have to include a really good ementhal, and of course Regiano parmesan . . . with, what else, good bread and a fab Bordeaux!
|
|
|
Post by sunshine817 on Jul 31, 2008 16:19:26 GMT -5
Happygoin, that made me laugh...what, exactly, should chevre taste like if it's not supposed to taste like goat? I love chevre, too, although I have to wrap it tightly lest the entire fridge reek of it!
|
|
|
Post by mez on Jul 31, 2008 19:11:09 GMT -5
Don't worry Happygoin...it just means more for you.
|
|
|
Post by chicchantal on Aug 1, 2008 2:50:36 GMT -5
Why doesn't cow cheese taste like cow, since goat cheese tastes of goat, I wonder?
Have you tried red (capsicum) peppers grilled with olive oil, with grilled goat cheese on a nice piece of poilane? It's to die for. There's some sort of affinity between the salty, goaty cheese and the sweetness of the pepper.
|
|
|
Post by Penny on Aug 2, 2008 12:35:04 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Jody on Aug 2, 2008 12:59:42 GMT -5
That's how I do it! Thanks for the links , I just bought a book.
|
|
|
Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Aug 2, 2008 20:21:11 GMT -5
I don't remember how grams/kilos relate, but I usually order "cent grams" (100 grams, about 1/4 lb.) or "deux cent grams" (twice that, obviously). That pretty much covers as much as I would want of one kind at a time, so it works well. (Or, I hold up thumb/forefinger the appropriate distance apart, and say "comme ca"). Don't worry, you'll always find a way to order cheese!
|
|
|
Post by Anne on Aug 3, 2008 1:02:43 GMT -5
Unless I need it for some receipe, I never order cheese by the weight, don't even use the fingers thing . I just say which cheese I want (sometimes adding "un peu" or "un gros morceau"), then the salesperson puts her knife on top of the cheese, where she suggests that she should be cutting, and says "comme ça ?" and I say yes or "un peu plus" or "un peu moins" and sometimes if I am not yet yet satisfied "encore un peu" and then she cuts . I have never been careful about this, but I am under the impression that most people do the same . As soon as you can handle "plus" "moins" and "un peu", you are able to order cheese ...
|
|
|
Post by chicchantal on Aug 3, 2008 5:14:13 GMT -5
Yep, they do it the same way in good cheese shops here. Am just about to head out to one of the two best cheese shops in London.
I'm wondering is there a website that lists all the cheeses made in France? With photos?
|
|