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

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

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

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

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