Party #2 French cheese plate

Jan 24, 2010

Club members count: 40

Nationalities count: 22

The classes are running already. We start getting busy, consumed by group work, career activities, clubs etc. The house often becomes silent and I can only wonder if there really is no one at home, or everyone is just sitting in their rooms.

Fortunately, we still often gather downstairs for dinner. And happily many of us have found some time to meet today. This time we are lucky. Claire and Sebastian, both coming from France, are telling us about French cheeses.

It is Sunday and we start from the morning market. It opens at around 7 am and closes at 1-2 pm and works on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays on a small Fontainebleau square bordered by rue des Pris, rue de la Paroisse, rue du Commissaire Calas and Halle du Marche. We come at 10:00 and the market is crowded already. “I planned to obtain the cheese map of France, but it was too late to order it” – Sebastian sais – “so we’ll have to use the road map”.

Entering we pass several stalls selling clothing. No idea where it comes from… We go through the rows selling fresh fruits and vegetables. Beautiful mandarins, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, apples, pears… A stall selling honey. Sebastian stops in front of the long cheese showcase. There are several cheese sellers in the market, but he prefers this one. A smiling girl behind the counter is glad to see him. She welcomes us in French. Sebastian shows us several cheeses that he has chosen for today and we move on. A stall with home made fruite cakes and gateaus. Meat. Long table with fish and seafood displayed on the ice. We stop in front of bread stall and buy several baguettes. Looks like we are done.

5 pm. The guests gather around the table and start feeling the strong cheese aroma (photos by Breanne Gellatly). 

Claire and Sebastian are quite serious. A large map of France comes out and the story starts. “Some people will tell you that the French can eat one cheese per day” – Sebastian sais – “that is not true. We have only around 100 cheeses protected by AOC”. from the North of France.

“There is no Camembert here” - Sebastian sais – “It is known by everybody so I didn’t buy one”. We move from the North to the South France excluding Bretagne, which represents the only region not producing cheese:

Vieux Lille
Brillat-Savarin
Brie (the cheese of our region, that is why we constantly see many varieties available in the market and stores)
Munster
Selles-sur-Cher (goat cheese)
Époisses (we are watching it melting gradually as it gets warmer)
Morbier
Salers
Saint-Nectaire
Ossau-Iraty and wide known Roquefort.

Sebastian strongly recommends white wine to accompany cheese. This is because red wines in general have stronger taste. If you combine strong tasting wine with strong cheeses you miss a lot in tastes of both products. Our cheeses are accompanied by several light white and red wines: Moulin à Vent (Lion), red Morgon (Lion),  white Savigny-lès-Beaune and ice wine Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – sweet white.

We notice a couple of jars standing aside. These are jams, traditionally complementing certain cheeses: cerise noir (cherry), confiture de figues, confiture d’abricots. Claire and Sebastian recommend these, as well as sweet wine, with the strongest cheeses.

The insightful lecture is over and we start breaking the baguettes and filling the glasses. Where to start…? Everyone looks a bit mixed up in front of the plate. But gradually people start trying unfamiliar cheeses. Most are very strong. Some are really surprising. This is truly an experience!


I' sure that this is just the beginning of the voyage. Which is your favorite French cheese? What would you advise to try?