Welcome To Say Cheese I Nine Recipes To Try Now I Selecting The Right Red Wines sax World Cultures
If apple pie is a symbol of America, in more than 700 distinct types have been iden Cheese making in France, the same can be said of Brie cheese, tified although some insist even that number a sublimely rich symbol of that nation's food doesn't embrace the full extent. Each year, traditions. Easy, approachable and always new cheeses emerge while some of the older France is high art. A welcoming, Americans long have looked to styles slip away and become lost to history. the tripe creme treat as a passport to French culture and a stepping stone to further explo Among the glorious richness, variations sampling of its greatest rations. in style abound, each a testament to a region and its people. A mild, buttery Brie de Nangis Food is approached with near-reverence is different from an earthier Brie de Meaux c hits provides delicious in France and cheese stands tall as one of its yet both hail from ile de France, the area sur stars. The country boasts the greatest variety rounding Paris. of styles in the world and the highest per evidence of the country's capita consumption. No sllrprise, then, that That's aU part of the intrigue. "What's late president Charles de Gaulle is famously wonderful about France is that each little area quoted as saying: "How can anyone govern has its own cheese that they've been making devotion to the craft. a nation that has two hundred and forty-six for years," acknowledges Luan Schooler, a kinds of cheese?" specialty cheese expert in Portland, Oregon. "These are cheeses that are worthy of slowing ( By Kale: ic: It} The precise number of varieties is hard to down to taste:' pinpoint but certainly has expanded beyond what de Gaulle described. Estimates are that With the sheer variety of styles, cheese enthusiasts can study-and harl!iJr~:~ de Comte). With a flavor redolent of nuts and -for years and still stumble upo: brown butter and a texture tbat melts easily, ies. Fortunately, expertise in th this cheese is ideal for cheese trays and also is a prerequisite to eating th~ ,he a Yersatile partner in the kitchen. following is a primer on thee Slgn~ st}-i6 Think of them as Fromage 101, 1).'pes to try: Arnaud, lura-Gruyere Other mountain cheeses: Ossau Iraty, Triple Creme TtJlIlllle de Savoie Call this indulgent style a t
·1 Ratio of number of dairy cows "'hose dail)' milk 3O• output is required [0 make one wheel of ComIc. dessert cheeses when from the southeast served with fresh fruit, corner of France. particularly apples and Not a cheese to take pears. lightly, it is sharp and tangy, salty and Types to Try: Erillat sweet, perfect when Savarir1, Pierre Robar savored after a meal. Other soft-ripming cheeses: Brie, Cflltlt:-"l· Types to try: Carles, bert Le Papillon Other blue cheeses: Chevre Bleu des Causses While goat ch Bleu des Basques are made elsewhere France, they are a spe Epoisse cialty of the west~ A French cheese Loire Valley, whel'1 primer would not goats have beell raised be complete without for centuries. , > a glorious stinker lightly dusted with a.:.h ur1'ace from the washed-rind family-cheeses whose moisture and hdp5 to pre"en'tthr >oU rinds have been rinsed with wine, beer or cheese. Often sen'ed roufU!,lhfsc cheeses brandy. Described by many as smelling like display an unmistakabt~go:tt-milkLan\! while "the feet of God;' this runny wonder's taste still exhibiting mild amI cream\"" (raiL. is subtle, complex and well deserving of its status as one of the all- ti me greats. Types to try: Selles-sur-Ch~ •. Crottin de Chavigllol Types to Iry: AjJidclice, LAmi du Chambertin. Other goat's milk che."ses: Tommc de Chevre, Other stinky cheeses: l\1Iunster, Langres • Charolais
Comte Made in the French Alps, Comte is a top selling cheese that evolved from the same tra ditions as Swiss Gruyere (also called Gruyere