One thing I love about France is the number of cheeses there are to choose from. We are all familiar with the popular French cheeses: Bleu cheese, Chèvre, Camembert, Brie, Boursin etc. But what I love is that there are enough cheeses and brands of cheeses here to try a new one every day!! Not necessarily only French cheeses either. Now, I don't quite have the funds for a new cheese every day, but I have been trying at least one a week since I got to France. Now I have decided to share some of these new cheeses I try so you can all follow along on my wondrous journey through cheeseland. Let's begin with the two most recent ones I bought:
Le Tomme de Savoie
This is a French cheese whose origins date back to before the 16th century when the peasants of the Savoie region (in the Alps in the east of France) started making cheese out of the skim milk left over after making butter. The word "tomme" is slang and it means 'cheese made in the high mountain regions'. Each household would make their own tomme, resulting in many different varieties. Even today, many different varieties still exist and the cheese can be found classified from 'light' to 'fatty'. The one I tried is great. The smell threw me off at first, it's a little strong, but the taste is smooth and a has a little bite to it. I would give it a 7 out of 10.
Le Rustique
This brand of Camembert is a newer cheese, dating all the way from 1992. It is also a French cheese and is made from pasteurized milk. Camembert in general is one of the most well known French cheese. It is smooth and creamy on the inside with a rind around the whole cheese that is rough and waxy. Some choose to eat the rind, some do not. My number one choice would be to put it in the oven for a little while and then eat the gooey cheese with some bread. But cold it works just as well. This specific brand was very nice, better than the last Camembert I had which was more generic. I would give it a 7 out of 10 as well.
Now these are only a fraction of the goodness to come this year. And of course no cheese is complete without bread or wine (or both) so be prepared for some fun. There will be more cheeses to come soon I'm sure.
As for the rest of life, it is going well. The weather has made another turn towards the cold (though it was really nice again this past weekend) and I am fearful for when it gets into the negatives. But I am prepared with my scarves and boots and extra pounds I will put on if I keep eating this much cheese... :-P
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