French Fromage: 3 of the Best

                     French Fromage: 3 of the Best

Francophiles will attempt to convince you that the French have the best cuisine, the best wines, the best breads, the best pastries & more. Whether what the French have is the absolute best in all aspects is truly debatable but one thing for sure they have excellent cheeses.

The following 3 are the very best in my own opinion. They epitomize the French excellence in cheeses.

Aisy Cendre Cheese

Aisy Cendré cheese was created by the same people who saved the Epoisses cheese from oblivion after WW-2, the estimable company, Fromagerie Berthaut. This company had found out that cheese buried in ashes develops a much appreciated & unique taste. Epoisses cheeses are salted & washed with Marc de Bourgogne. After the washing the cheese is buried in oak ashes for 1 month. At that time the tasty result is the Aisy Cendré, a cheese of uniquely wonderful taste.  This cheese is made from bovine milk & is a hard, cooked cheese that is unpressed rather than a natural raw cheese. This cheese is matured in 1 month.  It contains 50% fat.

Fourme d'Ambert Cheese

There is a French legend tells us that Fourme d'Ambertcheese was being produced at the time of the Druids by the Gauls. Supposedly Julius Caesar enjoyed this very cheese. Fourme d'Ambert is one of the more ancient cheeses in France. This cheese is made in the Monts de Forez of Auvergne, an area known for excellent cheeses.

"Fourme" is the old French word meaning cheese that comes from the Latin "forma", that accurately describes the distinctive cylindrical shape. Fourme d'Ambert cheese is from cow's milk. This requires 25 liters of milk to make just a single cheese. Just prior to being put down to age the bacteria, Penicillium glaucum, is added to the cheese as it is placed to rest in a cave for 2 or more months. This makes it a blue mould cheese with a 50% fat content.

Comte' Cheese

Comté is an ancient cheese. It has been produced since the time of Charlemagne. Comté is still traditionally made in more than 190 cheese dairies, known as the "fruitières" in the Jura plateau.

Cheese masters need some 530 liters of milk, the average daily production of 30-35 cows, just to make a single Comte' cheese, These cheeses weigh in at 35 kilogramss or 80 pounds. Both the morning & the evening milkings from Montbeliarde & Tachete de L'est dairry herds are mixed together. Comte' cheese needs a rather long maturation period, 6 to 24 months, which in French is called the "affinage." Once it is aged the resultant Comte'cheese is cleaned & then it is rubbed with salted water. "Eyes", the holes, of this cheese are the result of a perfect affinage. These eyes should be from the size of a pea up to the size to a small cherry. They are the identifying mark of this excellent cheese. Comte' contains 45% fat.

Sources:

http://www.cheese.com

http://www.igourmet.com/ST/encyclopedia.asp

© Donald R. Houston, PhD, 2006