"TastingCheese" news and stories

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.