France offers us a variety of 1000 different cheeses, soft cheeses (camembert, coulommiers, munster), blue cheese (roquefort, bleu d’Auvergne), cooked pressed cheeses (gruyère, county, parmesan), 45 AOC cheeses (Appellation d’ Controlled Origin) and 38 PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) cheeses.
With more than 20kg of cheese consumed per year and per inhabitant, the French are the biggest consumers after the Greeks. Cheese is appreciated for its taste but also for its calcium, protein and energy intake.
Like any country, France is distinguished by its individual characteristics – customs, wonderful diversity, cheerfulness and bureaucracy. Depending on the circumstances, life in France can be anything from incredibly relaxed to depressingly tough; and almost without exception, the French do not look like the hackneyed stereotypes that are so often conveyed in cartoons and the media.
Rural France is still home to a dwindling generation of traditional country people living as before, while the heritage and traditions of the past are carefully preserved and even revived by younger generations, often fleeing city life. Old France is alive and well in its own way and can still be found in villages and markets, including traditions and regional delicacies such as an extensive and very varied selection of French cheeses.
If “French cheese” to you only means brie, camembert, roquefort, or whatever looks like cheddar and gouda at your local supermarket, then you don’t know anything about French cheeses! Each region of France has its own special cheeses. At the time of General de Gaulle, there were 246 cheeses in France – and there are many more now, given the large number of new products, inventions or copies of traditional cheeses that have appeared on hundreds of dairy companies in France in the past 20 years.
Our guide is by no means an exhaustive list of all the foods France has to offer to decorate a well-decorated cheese plate. It is simply one of the most common and most delicious dishes.
The main types of French cheese
French cheeses can be divided into three main families:
– pressed cheeses (like most British cheeses);
– soft cheeses such as camembert;
– blue cheeses, to which you can add several hybrids or very individual cheeses.
Cheese is traditionally made from three types of milk:
– cow’s milk;
– goat milk;
– sheep’s milk.
Two origins:
In addition, all French cheeses are divided by origin, namely, farm-grown and industrially produced cheeses.
Labels
A further distinction is also possible: traditional regional cheeses with the label “apllation d’origine protégée” (AOP) (there are about 40 of them), traditional cheeses without the AOP label, and modern cheeses developed and produced in dairies.
Bleu d’Auvergne
Bleu d’Auvergne is a blue cheese made from cow’s milk , unlike its cousin Roquefort which is made from sheep’s milk.
The 19th century saw the birth of Bleu d’Auvergne thanks to a farmer from the region, Antoine Roussel, who wanted to develop the “bluing” of the cheese which, according to him, brings a “special, pleasant and fragrant” taste. Several experiments later, based on rye bread mold and artificial holes, the Bleu d’Auvergne was born!
According to Georges Mathieu, director of the dairy industry school in Aurillac, Antoine Roussel “has just carried out microbial seeding and culture in an organic medium” (1854).
Accompanying wine : Muscat-de-Rivesaltes or Banyuls
Recipe idea : Aiguillettes of duck with Bleu d’Auvergne
Cantal or “Fourme de Cantal”
Cantal is an uncooked pressed cow’s milk cheese . Nicknamed “the cheese of the Pays de Gabalès and Gevaudan” by Pliny the Elder, Cantal is one of the oldest cheeses in history. 2000 years ago, Cantal was already used as a food reserve due to its imposing size (it can reach up to 45 kg) and as a trade product. As said before, a Cantal can weigh between 35 and 45 kg!
The small Cantal weighs between 15 and 20 kg and for the Cantalet, it is necessary to count between 8 and 10 kg. Minimum ripening of 30 days. For a young Cantal, it will take approximately 1 month of ripening, for an in-between Cantal, 2 to 6 months and for an old Cantal, more than 6 months.
Accompanying wine : Beaujolais (red) or Côtes-d’Auvergne (red)
Recipe idea : Cake with Cantal cheese and olives
Reblochon
The birth of Reblochon occurs in the 13th century in the Valley of Thônes, in Haute-Savoie. Since in the Middle Ages farmers were not landowners, they had to pay a “user fee” on the quantity of milk produced and to graze their animals, which made its production illegal. Indeed, following the passage of the controller, the farmers began to apply “Rebloche” (in patois), that is to say, pinch the udders of the cow a second time, the milk thus obtained was very rich in cream. , ideal for a cheese and above all free! In 1860, Savoy was integrated into the French Empire, which began the Reblochon trade, favored by the railway in Annecy. Refining Reblochon, an uncooked pressed cheese with a washed rind, is 4 to 5 weeks on a thin slice of spruce.
Accompanying wine : White wine from Savoie of the Apremont type
Recipe idea : the essential Tartiflette
Epoisses
Burgundy’s most famous cheese was born in the 16th century, from the hand of a community of Cistercian monks, settled in the village of Epoisses. Before leaving the region, they bequeathed to the peasant women of the valley, the famous recipe for this cheese.
Epoisses is gaining in popularity, it is consumed at the court of Louis XIV, at the table of Napoleon I and obtains its famous reputation at the end of the Ancien Régime.
Epoisses is a soft cheese with a partially washed rindto the Marc de Bourgogne, the magistrate Brillat-Savarin even consecrated it “king of cheeses” at the beginning of the 19th century. After the First World War, its production declined, it was not until the 1950s that it regained its popularity, thanks to a couple of farmers Simone and Robert Berthaut. The minimum ripening is 4 weeks.
Accompanying wine : sweet Vouvray, Gewurztraminer late harvest or Pinot gris
Recipe idea : Quiche à l’Epoisses
Le Bouton de Culotte
This small soft goat’s cheese with a bloomy rind comes from the Mâconnais and Haut-Beaujolais regions. History has it that the Bouton de Culotte was born thanks to the presence of herds of goats in the region. According to legend, it is the smallest goat’s cheese and even the smallest cheese at all! Nicknamed “Chevreton du Mâconnais or Cabrion”, the Bouton de Culotte owes its name to its small size, which also allows it to drip without being turned over, and to its shape which resembles a trouser button. The aging is a minimum of 14 days, but to bring out its typical peppery taste, you have to wait a little longer… (about 2 months).
Accompanying wine : Chablis (as an aperitif), Aligoté Burgundy or Champagne
Recipe idea : Crispy beetroot and panties button
Le Mont d’Or
A soft cheese with a washed rind , Mont d’Or, also called “Vacherin du Haut-Doubs” or “Vacherin Mont d’Or” in Switzerland, takes its name from the highest point of its native terrain. It was invented by the farmers of the massif in order to compensate for the insufficient milk harvests to produce Comté. Unlike our Swiss friends, who use thermized milk, the French Mont d’Or is made exclusively from raw milk. It is also nicknamed “boëte cheese” or “strapped cheese” because of the spruce bark belt, which keeps it “in shape” and gives it a woody scent. It is a rare product, which can only be tasted at a certain time of the year (from September to May).
Accompanying wine : Dry white from Jura, Bourgeuil, Saint-Emilion or Graves
Recipe idea : Mont d’Or in the oven (a clove of garlic + 1 tbsp of white wine)
Le Curé Nantais
It was in 1880, in St Julien-de-Concelles, a small village near Nantes, that a priest named Pierre Hivert created a cheese, the “Régal des Gourmets”, which became in homage to the holy man, “le Curé Nantes”. Nicknamed “fromage à curé”, “fromage du curé” or “fromage nantais”, it is a soft cheese with a washed rind , made from cow’s milk which can be molded in 3 shapes: a square model with softened angles, which is its original form, a large round model intended for sale by the glass and a small model refined with Muscadet.
The ripening is 4 weeks in a damp cellar and on spruce boards.
Accompanying wine : Muscadet or Gros-plant-du-pays-nantais
Recipe idea : Casserole of mussels à la mode curé
Le Selles-sur-Cher
A jewel of the Loir-et-Cher, Selles-sur-Cher takes its name from its town of origin, which was also the main collection and resale centre. The first written record of this Berry cheese dates from the 19th century, when a farmer native to the town explains that she has always been making Selles-sur-Cher, just like her mother before her. Goat farming being widespread in the region, the cheese is intended to be consumed as a family. The “coquetiers”, ancestors of the affineurs, came regularly to the farms to collect food, including goat’s cheese, which they sold later. Selles-sur-Cher is one of the soft cheeses with a bloomy rind. This crust is, moreover, salted and ashy with charcoal, which gives it its sweet taste. Refining, meanwhile, is between 10 days and 3 weeks.
Accompanying wine : white Touraine
Recipe idea : Salade Selloise
Le Brocciu
National pride of the Island of Beauty, Brocciu is the only cheese made from whey, that is to say the whey of ewes and/or Corsican goats.
According to legend, it was an ogre, animal thief, who revealed the secret of making Brocciu in exchange for his life, then threatened by the Corsican shepherds. The name Brocciu comes from the word “brousse” which refers to Provençal fresh cheese. You can eat fresh Brocciu and Brocciu passu, which has matured for 21 days. As for its paste, it is said to be fresh or refined
. As the author Emile Bergerat said so well: “Who has not tasted it does not know the island” (end of the 19th century).
Accompanying wine : Wine from Corsica Calvi (white), Pouilly-Fuissé, Burgundy (white) or Crozes-Hermitage (white)
Recipe idea : Omelette with Brocciu
Munster
Munster is a soft cheese with a washed rind , made from raw cow’s milk. It was born in the 7th century thanks to the monks of the “Monasterium Confluentes” who wanted to preserve the milk and at the same time feed the people. The first known mention of cheese production is in the Treaty of Marquard (1339). The denomination of Munster cheese “Münsterkase” appears between 1573 and 1577.
Refining according to specifications 21 days minimum.
Accompanying wine : Pinot Gris, Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Gewurztraminer
Recipe idea : Alsatian burger
Le Langres
It was in the middle of the 18th century that we heard about Langres cheese for the first time, in a song composed by the Prior of the Dominicans of the city. It is also mentioned in the 19th century in a work on cheese processing alongside its comrades, the Maroilles and the Livarot. Langres, which has a soft, washed-rind cheese , is distinguished by the small “bowl” at its top, the deeper the bowl, the more the Langres cheese is refined. But why is there a basin will you tell me? Quite simply because Langres has never returned, unlike its No. 1 competitor: Epoisses.
It will take approximately 15 days minimum of refining for a small format, 18 days minimum for a medium format and 21 days minimum for a large format.
Accompanying wine : Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Lalande-de-Pomerol or Fronsac
Recipe idea : Langres rillettes with salmon
Le Maroilles
A soft cheese with a washed rind , Maroilles is one of the oldest cheeses in France. First listed appearance: in the 7th century during the ordinance, “the writing of the pastures”. According to tradition, Maroilles was invented by a monk from the monastery of Landrecies around 960. It was known in the Middle Ages under the name of “craquegnon” and was used to pay the tithe (charter 1010). Later, the Maroilles crosses the border and even seduces Charles Quint, the intendant of the Spanish court, sees himself in charge of the transport of the precious goods. All lovers of this cheese will agree with the motto of the Brotherhood of Maroilles “Honni be who, without maroilles, claims to keep a loyal table”.
Accompanying wine : Affligem beer
Recipe idea : Maroilles tart
Brie de Meaux et Brie de Melun
Brie is said to be the ancestor of all soft cheeses , such as Camembert. It was King Charlemagne who spoke of it first in 774, then it was the turn of King Robert II the Pious who took a strong interest in its trade in 999. Women used it more as currency, like Blanche de Navarre and Queen Margot who respectively bribed Philippe Auguste and Henri IV with slices of brie! Louis XIV also loved it and even wanted it every day for his meals. We will have understood it, brie with its flowery rind, is a royal cheese. But what is the difference between Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, these two cousins so similar? First of all, the ripening, the Brie de Meaux is ripened for 4 to 8 weeks while the Brie de Melun is ripened for 4 to 12 weeks. Then, draining, Brie de Meaux drains spontaneously while Brie de Melun drains slowly. And to finish, the Brie de Meaux is molded with a shovel while the Brie de Melun is molded with a ladle. In addition, Brie de Melun is slightly smaller than Brie de Meaux. It was not until 1793 that Brie took on its full importance, as the magistrate François Joachim Esnue-Lavallée mentioned, “Brie, loved by the rich and the poor, preached equality before it was never imagined possible”.
Accompanying wine : Champagne or Méthode Champenoise
Recipe idea : Bouchées à la Reine
Camembert de Normandie
According to legend, this soft cheese with a bloomy rind originated in the village of Camembert (in Orne), on the property of Jacques and Marie Harel. The couple hid since October 1790, the Abbé Charles-Jean, Benedictine and prior of Rouxville, in order to save him from the repression emanating from the French Revolution. A year later, Camembert de Normandie was born, to our delight. The milk needed to make it comes from Normandy cows, raised in the open air, day and night.
Accompanying wine : Champagne Blanc de Blancs, Anjou-Gamay or Touraine
Recipe idea : Baked Camembert
Le Pont l’Evêque
This small creamy square is one of the oldest cheeses in Normandy.
In the category of soft cheeses with washed rind , it made its appearance in the 12th century thanks to the Cistercian monks. It is nicknamed, from 1230, “the cherub” in reference to the coin. A little historical reminder, cheese was used at the time as a means of exchange, remuneration or tax. Guillaume de Lorris even quotes it in his very famous book, the Roman de la Rose, “good tables were always garnished with cherubs cheese for dessert”.
Accompanying wine : Madiran, Pécharmant or Fitou
Recipe idea : Croque-Monsieur with Pont l’Evêque
L’Ossau-Iraty
A pure product from the Basque Country and Béarn regions, Ossau-Iraty is an uncooked pressed sheep’s cheese . The region’s climatic conditions have favored dairy sheep farming and consequently the production of Ossau-Iraty, which is why sharecropping contracts from the 14th century already refer to sheep’s cheese. The ewes must be of the Basque-Béarnaise breed, black head manech or red head manech.
Accompanying wine : Irouléguy or Jurançon
Recipe idea : Risotto with Espelette pepper, prawns and Ossau-Iraty
L’Edam français
Yes, we French people also make Edam just like our Belgian friends!
It was in the 17th century that Edam, an uncooked pressed cheese , was exported to Germany, France and Great Britain. The red color of the rind would come from the Bordeaux barrels in which they were transported. The first French Edam was made around 1660 in Queyrac in the Médoc and is said to have inspired cheesemakers in northern France to make the first mimolettes.
Nicknamed Moorish Head, Fat Holland, Red Ball or Golden Ball, Edam has different maturings: for a steamed quarter Edam it will take between 3 and 6 weeks, for a half-steamed Edam between 3 and 4 months and for a parboiled edam between 9 months and 1 year.
Accompanying wine : Beaujolais (red), Anjou (red or white), Saumur or Médoc (red)
Recipe idea : Edam croquettes
Le Pélardon des Cévennes
Soft goat cheese with a bloomy rind , Pélardon, originally from Languedoc, comes from the Cévennes language (“pèbre” which means pepper). The breeding of goats and sheep is spreading in the region in order to ensure the following foodstuffs: milk, meat and cheese. In 1756, Abbé Boissier de Sauvages told us about the cheese called Péraldou “small round and flat cheese that is made in the Cévennes…” As for Frédéric Mistral, the Occitan writer, he describes it as “small round cheese , goat’s milk, with a dry and pungent taste, and specific to the Cévennes”. Paraldon, Pélardou, Péraudou, the definitive name of Pélardon was not established until the 19th century and its consumption did not leave the family circle until the 1960s, thanks to the revival of goat breeding in the region.
Accompanying wine : Ventoux (white), Côtes du Rhône Villages white, Pays d’Oc white, Sancerre white
Recipe idea : Aubergines à la Languedocienne au Pélardon
Le Cabécou d’Autan
This small goat’s cheese has a soft, bloomy rind and comes from Alpine Chamoisé, Saanen or Poitevine goats raised in the Quercy and Rouergue regions. Pure product of the South-West, its name comes from the Occitan “cabra” (goat) and “fromatjon” (small cheese) which we adapted into our current language by Cabécou. Exclusively molded with a ladle, this little cheese has had the Label Rouge since June 17, 2006. Aging for about 10 days.
Accompanying wine : Burgundy (white), Tavel rosé or Marcillac (red)
Recipe idea : Madeleines with Cabécou d’Autan
Le Roquefort
Legend has it that a shepherd in love, wanting to seduce his beloved, left his snack made up of rye bread and sheep’s cheese, in a cave where he was resting. When he returned some time later, to taste his meal, he discovered mold there, and this is how Roquefort was born! The first written mention of this blue-veined cheese, dates from the 11th century, and represents a historical symbol for the Causses and Valleys region of Aveyron. From the 15th century, Charles VI then Charles VII granted the inhabitants of Roquefort certain privileges. During the Enlightenment, it was Diderot who declared Roquefort “king of cheeses”. The Roquefort cellars are located in the heart of the Combalou plateau, the “fleurines” provide the ventilation necessary for the development of the cheeses. The Roquefort Papillon cellars offer you a free guided tour as well as a tasting, for more information, click here. Aging for at least 3 months.
Accompanying wine : Sauternes, Banyuls or Gewurztraminer
Recipe idea : Roquefort sauce
Le Banon
Banon cheese takes its name from the small village located a few kilometers from the Plateau d’Albion. According to legend, the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius died of gluttony, which relates to its seniority. To preserve this soft cheese with a natural rind , the shepherds of the time decided to wrap it in chestnut leaves, held by a sprig of raffia. In 1849, the Abbé Feraud spoke about it: “We hold several fairs in Banon which are frequented. The cheese sold there is highly valued”. To obtain a soft and soft dough and because of the climate imposed by the region, the soft curd technique is used (little or no added whey).
Accompanying wine : Côtes-de-Provence (white or red) or Coteaux-Varois-en-Provence
Recipe idea : Fougasse Banon and Rosemary