In the world of turophilia (that’s “love of cheese” for the neophytes out there), there may be no nation more afflicted than France. Cheese is omnipresent: Supermarkets often have not one but two whole aisles dedicated to the product, and cheese cloches are available in the local equivalent of Target. Traditional meals so automatically include it that when former President Nicolas Sarkozy elided the cheese course from official state lunches, citizens were outraged. It’s no wonder that France is often held up as the bastion of cheese excellence.
That said, there are some pervasive myths about French cheese that are ripe for debunking. Here are the most egregious among them.
1. “There are 246 kinds of cheese in France.”
Charles de Gaulle “famously” said that it was impossible to govern a country with 246 kinds of cheese. In reality, the quote is anecdotal at best, and moreover, it severely underestimates the true number of cheeses produced in France. At last count, according to the Centre National Interprofessionnel de l’Économie Laitière, France is home to over 1,200 cheeses, 46 of which are protected by a strict Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP) charter—a label that is less a mark of quality than an indicator of consistency, according to cheese educator Jennifer Greco, who offers cheese and wine tastings in Paris. “When I purchase a cheese with an AOP classification,” she says, “I am confident that it will have the flavors, textures and aromas that I associate with that particular cheese.”
2. “The older a cheese is, the smellier it is.”
It’s not a cheese’s age but rather its type that ups its stink factor. And in France, you’ve got five to choose from: fresh, blue, washed, bloomy, or pressed. This final category can be further split into pressed-and-uncooked or pressed-and-cooked—with the latter being the oldest specimens in any cheese shop (think: Alpine cheeses like Comté that can be aged up to five years). But it’s the washed rind cheeses, aged…
..
[ad_2]