February | 2011 | French Food Fool

Cheese University (XV): Morbier

February 23, 2011 by Ullrich

You might think of a blue cheese when you see the picture above but it’s not one of those. The distinctive black line running through the pâte is just decoration nowadays but it used to be a necessity in former times. During winter, the farmers in Franche-Comté didn’t get enough milk out of their herd for a full mould of cheese, so they split the production into two phases: with the curd of the morning milk they filled half the […]

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

Cheese University (XIV): Comté

February 22, 2011 by Ullrich

Here’s France’s no 1 cheese, you could call it staple food, 40 percent of the French population eat it regularly. Every year, almost 52.000 tons are produced, 175 small and large fabricants run the business, they deliver giant pieces of cheese 9 to 13 cm high, 40 to 70 cm diameter, weighing around 50 kilograms. The French cheese guide by Eyewitness Companions has it that it takes 530 litres of milk – the daily production of 30 cows – to […]

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

Cheese University (XIII): Valençay

February 4, 2011 by Ullrich

This piece of cheese seems to come from ancient times, covered with powdered charcoal as it is, a somewhat weird pyramid with a top cut off, yet it has obtained its AOC in 1998 only. Maybe it dates back to the 15th century, nobody really knows. Maybe it was Napoleon himself who demanded the top to be cut off this cheese when he stopped by after his failed campaign in Egypt. Maybe Talleyrand, the great French diplomat of Revolution times, […]

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

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Monthly Archives: February 2011

Cheese University (XV): Morbier

Cheese University (XIV): Comté

Cheese University (XIII): Valençay