“How can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?”  Charles de Gaulle

246, that's a lot ! This is one of the reasons why at Le Marché, more than only selling them, we want to create a real experience around French cheeses.

What's the French Cheese Academy of Le Marché?

                             Discovery, knowledge ... and tastings!

 On this webpage, you will regularly find detailed informations about an highlighted  French cheese, and the upcoming events related to the French Cheese Academy !

 

December cheese is Buche de Chèvre!

Origin: Poitou-Charentes
Cheese group: Soft, bloomy-rind cheeses
Milk type: Goat's milk
Strength: Medium
Taste: Tangy goat flavour
Season: Available all year round
Producer: Large scale dairy companies

Now very popular locally and internationally, this rounded cylinder shape is ideal for cutting for salads or toasting on bread, and it varies in size from around 300 g up to 1.5kg.  White creamy cheese gives a fresh taste and aroma.

Source: frencheese.co.uk

 

 

November cheese is Roquefort!

Roquefort is considered as the "King of cheeses". It has a tingly pungent taste and ranks among blue cheeses. Only the milk of specially bred sheep is used and is ripened in limestone caverns. It has the cylinder-shape with sticky, pale ivory, natural rind. Ripe Roquefort is creamy, thick and white on the inside and have a thin, burnt-orange skin.

 

The ripening of the cheeses is in the natural, damp aired caves found under the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon. It is the quality of the milk, the processing of the curd, the adding of “Penicillium roqueforti” and finally the ripening in natural caves that give us this unique and remarkable cheese.

The exterior aspect of a Roquefort should be white and faintly shiny. The “pâté” should be cohesive, at the same time slightly crumbly.

This cheese has a distinct bouquet and a flavor that combines the sweet burnt-caramel taste of sheep's milk with the sharp, metallic tang of the blue mould. Also frequently added in dressings and salads.

 

source: cheese.com

A classic Saint Nectaire cheese

Village of Saint-Nectaire

 

 

A Saint-Nectaire cellar

October cheese is Saint-Nectaire!

History : Saint-Nectaire is made in Auvergne, a region located in the centre of France. This cheese was first made during the 17th century. Its name came a bit later, when Maréchal de Sannectere brought it to king  Louis XIV's table. In 1955, Saint-Nectaire cheese was awarded the famous  french AOC label (l'Appelation d'Origine Controlée, meaning  "controlled term of origin").

 

Variants : There are three different types of Saint-Nectaire : the one made with unpasteurized raw-milk, the one made with pasteuried milk, and a version made from bio milk.

 

Facts: With more than 13,000 tons produced every year, Saint-Nectaire is one of the first AOC cheeses in terms of quantity, in its farmer version.

 

Manufacture: The milk is coming from cows grazing in the mountains of Auvergne. After having beeb heated and coagulated with rennet, the curd is pressed into the molds, by hand. It is then removed, salted and wrapped in cloth. Before the affinage period, the cheese is pressed again. Finally, Saint Nectaire cheeses age in cellars between three and eight weeks.

 

Taste: Saint-Nectaire's flavor is nutty and fruity with a touch of salt and spice.

 

Matches: Saint-Nectaire perfectly matches with light & fruity red wines, such as wines from Burgundy (Beaujolais for example), or Pinot Noir. 

Find directly imported Saint Nectaire at the Deli of the Marché Français, or order and purchase online here !