"FrenchCheese" news and stories

Warning: Cheese washed in beer may sound like a perfect combination – and for flavorists, it definitely is – but it sure makes a stink. Garbage that's been sitting out for days, dirty undergarments, and rotting food are just a few odors that come to mind when taking a whiff of Sablé de Wissant, a raw cow's milk cheese washed in wheat beer and sprinkled with breadcrumbs. Sable de Wissant isn't alone. When researchers at Cranfield University in the U.K. used an electric nose to find the world's smelliest cheese, they identified another soft cow's milk cheese washed in beer – Vieux Boulogne. So why does beer cheese smell so bad?

Saint-Nectaire. Photo: Artisanal Cheese

This summer Slashfood blogger Max Shrem is apprenticing at renowned Paris cheese shop Fromagerie Trotté. In ''Le Cheese Course,'' Max will share his impressions and opinions of French cheese à la francaise!

For those who enjoy the creamy supple texture of Brie and the nutty earthy taste of Salers, Saint-Nectaire is a must-try. Coming from the Auvergne, the same region of France as Salers, it combines the best of both cheeses, but the experience of eating it is like savoring a particularly rich smooth peanut butter and drinking a glass of rich, flavorful raw cow's milk.

This cow's-milk cheese is made from the milk of the renowned Salers cows that graze at an altitude of 3,000 feet. Similar to the cheese Salers, the rich soil consists of volcanic ash (hence, lots of minerals) and imparts a distinct flavor on Saint-Nectaire.

However, unlike Salers, Saint-Nectaire has an unctuous consistency, similar to Brie, and a one-of-a-kind exquisite light-brown-grayish rind with, at times, white, yellow and red molds. It can have either a washed rind or a natural rind. The different molds, intentionally brought out by the affineur, create the cheese's distinct rustic appearance and earthy floral taste. As far back as the Middle Ages, cheesemakers have been aging Saint-Nectaire on rye mats in tunnels and caves that run through the Auvergne.

Pouligny Saint Pierre. Photo: Vincent M, Flickr

This summer Slashfood blogger Max Shrem is apprenticing at renowned Paris cheese shop Fromagerie Trotté. In 'Le Cheese Course,' Max will share his impressions and opinions of French cheese à la francaise!

Those interested in the aesthetics of chèvres that come in striking shapes and sizes will certainly be seduced by Pouligny Saint Pierre, a classic French goat's milk cheese shaped like a pyramid. Hailing from the region of Berry, close to the renowned châteaux of the Loire valley, this cheese has a distinctive floral aroma and grassy, nutty taste.

When it comes to French goat's milk cheeses like Pouligny Saint Pierre (and many others like Valençay) there are key differences in flavor and texture between ones imported to the United States and those eaten in France. In the United States, Pouligny Saint Pierre is sold fresh and has almost no rind, giving it a mild, fresh taste and cakey yet creamy texture. In France, however, because the cheese is made with raw milk and is aged to various degrees by affineurs, it comes in many more varieties.

Fromage Blanc with pears and honey. Photo: Marylise Doctrinal, Flickr

This summer, Slashfood blogger Max Shrem is apprenticing at renowned Paris cheese shop Fromagerie Trotté. For the next two months, in 'Le Cheese Course,' Max will share his impressions and opinions of French cheese à la francaise!

If you like eating thick, creamy French cheese such as Chaource, you're likely to enjoy fromage blanc. At Fromagerie Trotté, customers come in weekly for what at first blush resembles chunks of cream, large pieces of mascarpone or crème fraîche. They are not ordering cream, of course, but are lining up for fromage blanc -- also called fromage frais, which literally translates to "fresh cheese."

Fromage blanc is a young cheese that is made from cow's milk. It's essentially an un-aged fresh cow's milk cheese – that is, it represents the beginning stages of cheesemaking before the addition of rennet and salt. Therefore, its texture is soft and milky, similar to that of cottage cheese and yogurt. Like yogurt, it has a relatively low fat content (assuming that there is no added cream.)

A wheel of Comté in Paris' Rungis Market. Photo: Max Shrem

This summer, Slashfood blogger Max Shrem is apprenticing at renowned Paris cheese shop Fromagerie Trotté. For the next two months, in 'Le Cheese Course,' Max will share his impressions and opinions of French cheese à la francaise!

For many of us, tasting a cheese just involves swiping a cheese plane or knife against the surface (or the pâte) of a cheese and popping it into our mouths. In France, amongst fromagers (cheese mongers) and affineurs (cheese agers), a dedicated process involves not only tasting the cheese, but also touching it to feel its texture.

Faire la sonde is a cheese ritual in which a slender, curved instrument called a sonde à fromage is used to remove a small cylinder of cheese from a wheel. It's like performing surgery on a cheese to inspect the flavor development.