"fromage blanc" news and stories

Fontainebleau. Photo: Marie-Anne Cantin

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!

This odd-looking fromage is oh-so-French (and, in fact, available solely in that country). Those planning a trip there would be wise to look up the delicious Fontainebleau, which is here pictured with the net that covers it when it is sold.

France has many varieties of creamy cheese, from crème fraîche and fromage blanc to petit-suisse and Chantilly. Combining characteristics of all four mentioned above, Fontainebleau, which must be eaten the day it's put out for sale, is especially worth trying for a rich, sweet taste and fluffy, light texture that's similar to whipped cream.

It's so light, in fact, it requires strange packaging. "The reason for the cloth is to protect the very light structure and to maintain the freshness," says Thomas Le Goff, cheesemonger at fromagerie Marie-Anne Cantin.

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.)

One reason to experiment with non-cream cheeses in cheesecakes is to experience the different textures and subtle changes in flavor that they introduce to the basic dessert. If nothing else, you'll develop a new appreciation for the classic, but if you try enough variations, the odds are good that you'll come across at least one that you'll like. This cheesecake, photographed by Foodie Universe, is made with fromage blanc and it is from Boule Bakery in Los Angeles. Fromage blanc is a thick, yogurt-like cheese (similar to quark) with a unique and somewhat mild flavor. It is relatively low in fat compared to many cheeses with similar textures and can be used as a dessert topping, as well as an ingredient in other recipes.

The Foodie Universe blog specializes in Los Angeles-based restaurant reviews and described the cake as being "nearly fluffy" in what might have been a surprising, yet welcome, contrast from the heavy and dense New York-style of cheesecake that so many bakeries seem to want to serve.

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