2020
France is the land of cheese. Charles de Gaulle recognized this as well, lamenting in a famous quote, “Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays où il existe 258 variétés de fromage ?”* In English, that translates to, “How can you govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?” If you Google « how many types of cheese are there in France » you’ll get numbers ranging from 200 to over 1,000. Either way, that’s a lot of cheese and a lot to love.
It’s hard to choose, but here are some of my personal favorites.
Pavé d’affinois is a creamy, square-shaped soft cheese (made of cow’s milk and sometimes sheep’s or goat’s) from Dauphiné in the Hautes-Alpes in Southeastern France, but available all over France. I have only seen it available in the US through specialty sites.
Comté is made of unpasteurized cow’s milk and from Franche-Comté in Eastern France, bordering Switzerland. Comté is considered semi-hard and is aged up to 36 months. It is sold in slices cut from discs. It is available in the United States at major grocery chains and cheese shops.
Chausée aux moines is a soft, cow’s-milk cheese protected by a thin rind that hails from France’s northwest. It is sold in a round format and is only available in the United States by special order.
These are just a few of many. What’s your favorite?