French cuisine is internationally recognised for its rich gastronomic tradition. In 2010, it was even included in the UNESCO List of World Cultural Heritage, along with the rituals and approach to food. Dining pleasure is part of the French identity.
French Cheese Culture
A French dinner consists of several courses, including a selection of cheeses. A traditional cheese plate must contain at least four different types - fresh, hard, mouldy and well-aged soft cheese. Cheeses are usually placed on the plate clockwise, starting with lighter and milder varieties and ending with pronounced ones. In the METRO range, you can find professionally assembled cheese collections in various combinations and weight categories (from 335 g to more than 1 kg). More than a tenth of French cheeses bear the A. O. C. (Appelation d'Origine Contrôlée, i. e. controlled designation of origin) quality seal. The first trademark was awarded to Roquefort cheese in 1925. Over time, other products followed, and thus each French region boasts its own cheese speciality. These include Camembert de Normandie, Brie de Meaux, Beaufort Fromi, Reblochon de Savoie or Selles-sur-Cher. Currently, the French A. O. C. label is being replaced by the A. O. P. (Appelation d'Origine Protégée) label for the sake of unity within the European Union, the meaning of which is identical.
The Art of Cheese Making
The production of first-class cheeses requires a lot of work - many times it involves months-long rituals under specific conditions. Traditional processes and perfect care stand behind the intensity of taste and aroma, the right consistency, colour and perfect appearance. In addition to top-quality input materials, the basis for success is also a suitable cellar in which there must be optimal temperature and high humidity corresponding to the specific type of cheese. During ripening, manufacturers pay due attention to their specialities. The cheeses are continuously wiped with a cloth and turned, selected types are sprinkled with special ash or washed with salt water, wine, brandy or brandy.
Cheese Selection
French cheeses are among the top-class delicacies in the METRO range. We pay due attention to their selection, carefully choose suppliers and check compliance with all prescribed standards regarding their transport and storage. Thanks to this, you have the certainty of top quality of all offered products.
Famous French Cheeses
France is a country of diverse tastes. In addition to wine and sweet desserts, the country also boasts a wide range of the finest cheeses. Hard, soft and blue cheeses are among the favourite French delicacies that should not be missed at any table.
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Hard Cheeses
The most famous hard cheese is certainly Cantal, one of the oldest French cheeses. Cantal cheese has been produced for more than 2000 years. It is aged for about 3 months, but old Cantal can be aged for up to half a year, which gives it a more pronounced flavour. Inside, the cheese has a creamier texture, the rind is thick and greyish. Cantal is a natural, pressed, low-heated cheese made from cow's milk. Its natural rind is thick and dry. It contains 45% fat. It has the shape of a large cylinder with a diameter of 40 cm and a height of 45 cm, weighing approximately 43 kg. Small Cantal weighs 20 kg and 10 kg Cantalet. Cantal is a purely natural cheese born in the heart of Auvergne, in the heart of the Green Country. It embodies the delicacy of the meadows, which it gained in fierce mountain storms, and the gourmet roundness from the radiant sun in high-altitude pastures.
Another popular hard cheese is Beaufort, which is made exclusively in Savoy and High Savoy from raw milk from local cow breeds: Tarine and Abondance. The consistency is supple and full, it may have horizontal cracks and small openings. Winter Beaufort (Beaufort d´hiver) is produced from November to May. It has a light colour because the cows are fed exclusively with hay collected in summer. Summer Beaufort (Beaufort d´eté) is produced when the cows are on pastures and mountain pastures, i. e. from 1 June to 31 October. Its colour is more yellow, the taste is more fruity and expressive.
Soft Cheeses
Brie is the granddaddy of all French cheeses. Its delicious taste was loved by the French monarch Louis XIV, who had to have it on his table every single day. There are two types - Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun. They are named after the towns near Paris where they are made. The origin of Brie cheese is so far unknown. It is known that Charles the Great liked it very much. Blanka Navarská and the Countess of Champagne sent it to King Philip Augustus. Charles of Orleans used it as a gift to ladies when courting. Henry IV smeared it on bread. It was served at a banquet organised by the Prince of Condé to celebrate his victory in Rocroit in 1943. Its great consecration took place in 1814, when Talleyrand and 143 negotiators, who met at the Congress of Vienna on the occasion of the reorganisation of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars, appointed him "King of Cheeses". It is made from raw cow's milk. It contains a minimum of 45% fat. It has the shape of a flattened cylinder (with a diameter of 35 to 37 cm, a thickness of 2.5 cm) with a weight of approximately 2.6 kg. The whole region of Seine-et-Marne and part of the following regions: Aube, Loiret, Marne, Haute-Marne, Meuse, Yonne.
No less famous is the floral French cheese Camembert, which has been produced in the Normandy area for many years. Camembert is soft cheese of creamy consistency, its taste gradually changes along with its aging. In the Norman town of Camembert, the cradle of the famous cheese of the same name, the last cheese factory resists industrial competition. It relies on its self-sufficiency and tradition, even if it does not have an easy position. Forty-three-year-old Nicolas Durand, who owns the La Héronniere farm in the town, is one of the few milkmen who still make their own camembert. Compared to 2000, when he produced 600 round cheeses a day, this is a slight increase. The rest of Durand's milk is bought by the Normandy company. Thomas Corneille, brother of the great dramatic poet, mentions Camembert cheeses as early as 1702. However, Camembert in the form we know it was invented by Marie Harel during the Revolution. Napoleon III loved this cheese and served it in the Tuileries. Engineer Ridel got the idea in 1880 to pack this cheese in a thin wooden box. Thanks to this idea, the cheese can withstand transport … It contains at least 45% fat. It has a cylindrical shape with a diameter of 10.5 to 11.5 cm, a thickness of 3 cm, and weighs approximately 250 g.
Sainte-Maure from Touraine is a cheese made from whole goat's milk. It is a low-heated soft cheese, with artificial mould. The centre is white or buttery in colour, has a fine homogeneous texture, the minimum fat content is 45%. The production of Sainte-Maure cheese, as well as the breeding of goat herds in the Touraine region, according to some records (Archives Indre and Loire) began as early as the Carolingian period (8th and 9th centuries).
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Reblochon de Savoie is a low-heated, gently pressed cheese made from raw whole cow's milk. It has an orange rind with natural mould. Its minimum fat content is 45%. In a smaller format, petit Reblochon de Savoie has a diameter of approximately 9 cm, a thickness of 3 cm and a weight of 240 to 280 g. It is sold on a base of spruce wood slats. Reblochon de Savoie was born in Upper Savoy, in the mountains of Pays du Thones, and was known as early as the 14th century. At that time, the farmer who rented the pasture had to pay the owner a reward proportional to the amount of milk produced. On the day the owner came to measure the milk, the farmer milked only partially. Once the owner left, he milked the rest.
Le Mont d'Or is a soft cheese made from raw cow's milk, low-heated, slightly pressed. You can recognise Le Mont d'Or by its seemingly mould-covered surface, yellow to brownish in colour. It always has the shape of a cylinder, but it has different dimensions: diameter 20 to 30 cm, thickness 3 to 5 cm, with a weight of 500 g to 1 kg, or 1.8 to 3 kg. In the Doubs region, in the area bounded by the source of the Doubs River, the Swiss border and Saut du Doubs. This traditional cheese from Franc-Comptois has been produced for several centuries in Haut-Doubs. It was invented by farmers from the Mont-d'Or massif. The area for mountain pastures in the Jura area was cleared as early as the 12th century under the protection of the large monasteries of Saint-Claude and Montbenoit, and the breeding of cows and dairy production developed there. In the 14th century, cheese factories began to emerge. At the beginning of autumn, after a summer spent in mountain pastures, the herds return to their cowsheds.
Munster or Munster-Géromé is a cheese made from cow's milk, soft, with an orange rind, which contains approximately 45% fat. It has the shape of a cylinder with a diameter of 13 to 19 cm, with a height of 2.4 to 8 cm and a weight of 450 g to 1.5 kg. Munster or Munster-Géromé was born in the south of the Vosges massif, in the Fecht valley. In 668 they named this valley Munster (derived from the Latin word Monasterium). In 855, the great Munster appeared: Géromé. So it is a medieval cheese, with monastic origins.
Ossau-Iraty is made from raw sheep's milk. It is gently pressed and low-heated. Its natural rind is dried and wiped. It contains at least 50% fat. It has the shape of a cylinder or a slightly bulging cylinder with a diameter of 26 cm and a height of 12 to 14 cm. Its weight varies between 4 and 5 kg (cheese made on farms can weigh up to 7 kg). We can also find it in a reduced format, small Ossau-Iraty, which weighs 2 to 3 kg. Its name evokes the two provinces of its origin: Béarn and the Basque Country. Mountains occupy a large part of the territory there, interspersed with deep valleys, and sometimes deep forests.
Blue Cheeses
Perhaps the most popular blue cheese is Bleu d'Auvergne, which was born in the 19th century. Local farmers experimented with mouldy rye bread to create a delicious, aromatic and fragrant cheese, and we have to admit that they succeeded. Le Bleu d'Auvergne is a blue cheese made from cow's milk, gently pressed, slightly heated, with a naturally mouldy rind. It contains a minimum of 50% fat. It is shaped into a flattened cylinder and is produced in several sizes: Large sizes have a diameter of 20 cm and a height of 8 to 10 cm with a weight of 2 to 3 kg; Small formats have a diameter of approximately 10.5 cm, weigh 350 g, 500 g or 1 kg. Le Bleu d'Auvergne was created in the mid-19th century, so rich in inventions. Around 1845, a villager from Auvergne got the idea to inoculate the whey with blue mould, which he saw on rye bread, and then pricked his cheese with a needle so that the mould could develop with the help of air flowing inside through these holes. Over time, other inhabitants of Auvergne began to use this method.
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If you haven't heard of a cheese called Roquefort, you should remedy that immediately. It is one of the most famous cheeses produced in the south of the country. Roquefort is made from sheep's milk and aged exclusively in damp caves. Unlike other blue cheeses, Roquefort is made from raw whole sheep's milk. The cheese dotted with blue mould is not pressed and is low-heated, the rind has a moist surface. It contains a minimum of 52% fat. It has the shape of a cylinder with a diameter of 19 to 20 cm and a thickness of 8.5 to 10.5 cm, its weight ranges between 2.5 and 2.9 kg. In the original Province of Rouergue. The area of traditional milk collection, or the area around Roquefort, extends in the region of Aveyron and neighbouring regions: Aude, Gard, Hérault, Lozere and Tarn. Despite the fact that it was the favourite cheese of the ruler Charles the Great, only in April 1411 Charles VI. Roquefort cellars were established under the Combalou plain, where they were in the middle of huge stone rubble on the edge of Grands Causses. From inside the mountain, moist air flows through long cracks called "fleurines".
Cheese and Wine
Each French region is a world in itself and has its culinary specialities, with which it tries to break through into the national consciousness. Old good home cooking or innovative delicacies, light food or traditional dishes, this is all gastronomy, which is an integral part of French cultural heritage.
Like Italian and Mexican cuisine, French cuisine is regionally divided, with each region boasting its typical dishes and ingredients. France is a diverse country, which consists of a total of thirteen regions. They offer everything a traveller desires - sea, mountains, city and countryside, historical and cultural monuments, heritage, traditions, fantastic wines, but especially excellent cuisine. Thanks to the diversity of the regions, everyone will find something to their liking, just choose the right location.
The wines of Burgundy can be found in wine shops, on menus and wine lists all over the world. The vineyards in are spread over an area of 25,000 ha in five large growing regions. From north to south, these are Chablis / Auxerrois, Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune, Côte chalonnaise and Mâconnais. Almost a hundred quality certified wines are grown and produced in them. You will also find four marked wine routes here. with wine tastings, every restaurant, everything awaits you with open arms. Numerous events take place here in every season, offering you the opportunity to participate in all those hearty, social traditions related to wine and gastronomy.
For Sainte-Maure cheese, let's give just one example, but not the least interesting, from Balzac's notes (quote from M. Wines from the same region. Either light fruity red wines: Burgueil, Chinon, Gamay or Cabernet from Anjou.
For Reblochon cheese, all the fine and fruity white wines from Savoy: Crépy, Roussette.
For Roquefort cheese, all the great mature red wines: Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Madiran, Cahors, etc.
For Le Mont d'Or cheese, all white and red wines from the Jura and Arbois regions, white wines from Savoy and dry Jurançon wine.