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Monthly Archives: January 2011

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Cheese University (XII): Neufchâtel

January 31, 2011 by Ullrich

In the year of the Lord 1035, the French nobleman Hugues de Gournay, a later follower of William the Conqueror, allowed a cheese to be used as a natural tax in the Bray valley in northern Normandy. It is by far the most ancient cheese of the region thrice blessed with so many products of excellence, and it was mentioned in documents of the Saint-Amand abbey of Rouen in 1543 as the grand fourmage de Neufchâtel, “the great cheese from Neufchâtel“. […]

Categories: Cheese University, France • Tags: Cheese, Food, France

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Cheese University (XI): Brie de Melun

January 28, 2011 by Ullrich

The Brie family is a very noble one, it was first mentioned in 774 by Éginhard, a writing monk who had one of the cheese’s ancestors on his table at the abbey of Reuil-en-Brie. Over time, it became a real favourite of kings and queens, it is well documented that the grand Henri IV was an admirer as well as the last French king (before the revolution) Louis XVI. His fame rested intact in the following centuries, it was served […]

Categories: Cheese University, France • Tags: Cheese, Food, France

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Cheese University (X): Munster

January 25, 2011 by Ullrich

Let’s bow to this very ancient representative of France’s cheese universe, it is to be considered a survivor of many wars and myriad plagues and revolutions. It was invented maybe in the 7th century already, when Benedictine monks founded an abbey to worship Saint George in the southern valleys of the Vosges mountain range. As usual, some villages appeared on the map around the abbey soon, amongst them one that gave its name to the cheese called Munster It took a […]

Categories: Cheese University, France • Tags: Cheese, Food, France

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Cheese University (IX): Fourme d’Ambert

January 23, 2011 by Ullrich

The marketing guys call it “the mildest of the blue cheeses” and they’ve put together a pretty absurd website displaying Chinese and Spanish poster girls alongside this very traditional cheese from very traditional Auvergne. I’d say, they’re guilty of a sort of cultural high treason because the cheese they have to promote doesn’t need bland slogans and sexy extras. It simply is a wonderful, powerful cheese, an AOC since 1972, and its proud name is Fourme d’Ambert 6000 tons or […]

Categories: Cheese University, France • Tags: Cheese, Food, France

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Cheese University (VIII): Rigotte de Condrieu

January 21, 2011 by Ullrich

Here’s a new kid on the block, a member of the French AOC cheese family only since 2008. It’s small (just look at the picture!), it’s a lightweight (just 30 grams or so a piece), it’s pretty (with the blue label), it makes itself quite scarce (16 producers get only 35 tons done during one year), it’s a goat cheese, obviously, and it’s called Rigotte de Condrieu Now, this funny name would need an explanation. The well-informed Maison du Lait […]

Categories: Cheese University, France • Tags: Cheese, Food, France

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Cheese University (VII): Selles sur Cher

January 20, 2011 by Ullrich

In 1970, the Selles sur Cher obtained its own Appellation d’Origine Controlée and that was the moment when the village of the same name was put on the map. The next bigger city is Blois which you might not know either, Orléans is not far, and for all of you who aren’t familiar with French geography at all, let’s say: Selles-sur-Cher is to be found 200 kilometres south-southwest of Paris, it’s a two-and-a-half hours drive from the capital, roughly. Concerning […]

Categories: Cheese University, France, good food • Tags: Cheese, Food, France

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Cheese University: first exam!

January 17, 2011 by Ullrich

Let’s step back and think for a second of what we’ve seen so far. This is Cheese University after all and it’s about a comprehensive guide to French (Food Fool’s) cheese. You might think that the selection of products has been random so far – well, it wasn’t. In fact, you’ve seen one representative of all French cheese families of interest. There’s six of them, and here’s the sum up: Camembert is what Anglo-American natives would just call a “soft […]

Categories: Cheese University, France, good food • Tags: Cheese, Food, France

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Cheese University (VI): Laguiole

January 14, 2011 by Ullrich

Here’s yet another ancient ambassador of the very rustic Aubrac region south of France’s Massif central. Before cutting, it reminds of a small barrel 40 centimetres wide and 40 centimetres high, so it’s quite a big guy in the cheese world, every piece weighing around 45 kilograms. It was mentioned in documents of the 4th century already, in other words: 1600 or so years ago. So you won’t be surprised that the producers proudly print the name directly on the […]

Categories: Cheese University, France, good food • Tags: Cheese, Food, France

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Cheese University (V): Rocamadour

January 12, 2011 by Ullrich

The great variety of goat cheese makes France’s pride. In fact, no other country in the world can boast with a similar palette of highly refined, traditionally anchored, perfectly crafted caprine milk products and, amongst them, one of the finest – and most ancient – is without a doubt the tiny, creamy Rocamadour It’s just as large as the palm of a hand, one inch thick, a disc-shaped delicacy weighing around 35 grams, yet this dwarf is a flavourful giant speaking of […]

Categories: Cheese University, France, good food • Tags: Cheese, Food, France, French Cheese

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Cheese University (IV): Époisses

January 11, 2011 by Ullrich

Legends are spinning around l’Époisses, the royal cheese from the heart of Burgundy. One them has it that Cistercian monks invented the cheese at the beginning of the 16th or even 15th century but these are stories without real proof. Pierre Androuët, one of the lead historians of cheese, dates its origins back to the 18th century, relying on a source that mentions the cheese in 1775. It is for sure that there’s no other cheese worth of the honorary […]

Categories: Cheese University, France, good food • Tags: Cheese, Food, France

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Cheese University (III): Roquefort

January 9, 2011 by Ullrich

Imagine a cheese that has been mentioned first by Pliny the Elder, the Roman historian of the first century that is, as “a cheese of Gaul” almost 2000 years ago. Imagine further a cheese that was accepted as a natural tax by certain abbeys in the 11th century already, a cheese that was protected by the French kings from the 15th century on with treaties, privileges and contracts. Imagine a blue cheese so tasty that you hardly need any other […]

Categories: Cheese University, France • Tags: Cheese, Cheese University, Food, France

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A “green” cookpot à la Ducasse

January 8, 2011 by Ullrich

I’ve heard a renowned French cook say recently that it was much harder to prepare high-class dishes only with vegetables. I thought he actually wanted to say: any high price for vegetarian food was justified. The three star chefs of Paris put price tags on carrot or celery salads nowadays that are nothing but shocking. Once in a Parisian gourmet temple, don’t be surprised to get a platter of raw vegetables for, say, 39 Euros (50 US$). You might find […]

Categories: chefs, Dinner, France, good food, nature, skills • Tags: Ducasse, Food, Vegetables

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