Les fromages - The cheeses - Alles Käse....!

Na nu - Alles Käse...? Wenn es um das Käsebrett geht - hoffentlich.....!
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The cheeses - on the cheeseboard hopefully....
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Des fromages - pas uniquement utile a table....
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The photo above shows one of the World's greatest cheeses in a state of perfect ripeness.
It is only at this stage that the full taste, the delicious taste and texture is apparent.
To get to this stage, various things are required. Firstly, it has to be a Camembert made from raw milk (lait cru), made preferably in that part of the world known as Camambert (a village in France), be made from milk from that region, and NOT (as in many, many cases from imported milk). The cheese must be turned over many times, and at home should not be put in the fridge after purchase, but left in room temperature (assuming normal temperatures) and turned frequently.
Only after it has been cut, for consumation, should what is left (if it's a good one, there won't be any left!), be kept - well protected, in the fridge, at the highest temperature point (normally in the vegetable part of the fridge).
"Camembert" made one of probably the most costly errors in the history of the Kitchen world when the area did not take out a "trade mark" protection, right from the start!
This meant, and still does, that many "forgeries" are to be found.
Camembert from Germany, other parts of France, Holland even USA are to be found - and avoided like the plague!
Yes - they are always cheaper, and this is generally an indication - low price = low quality, and you'll probably end up throwing away more than you eat!
The same applies to a cheese called "Brie", which has become a sort of "collective" name for anything resembling the original "Brie de Mie" except for the taste and texture.
It's the difference between Beluga caviar and coloured cod roes! Don't touch them!

A certain Frenchman, General and Président, once said "How can you govern a country which boasts more than 3,000 different types of cheese" - and he was right - with difficulty, but then again, with palatial pleasure...!
France - in spite of the amusing adverts from "the other country of cheese - Holland" is the number 1 address in the world for cheese, there is no doubt, only rarely being rivalled by other countries for certain types of cheeses, Italy for its "Parmesan" - Switzerland for it's various semi-hard cheeses like Appenzeller or Gruyère etc., certain "older" Dutch cheeses (although Dutch friends assure me that they only export the rubbish) and I'll even go so far as to mention England for it's "Stiltons" and "Double Worcesters".
On the whole, if you stay with French, you can't really go wrong. There is something for everybody, and for all occasions, from the blue/green veined Roquefort, to the really ripe "Munster" (the only cheese I know capable of chasing any HM Inspector of Customs and Excises).
Yes - expensive, I recall a certain young man who, having left the parental home where he consumed large quantities of cheeses, had to constat that "Hey Dad - you seen the price of cheese.....!"
But...value is when you don't need a lot to have the quality bursting open your mouth with the full flavour and taste.
Cheaper things like best price "Emmentaler" (often already grated) finally end up in your mouth like bits of elastic rubber bands, and finally in the bin, together with the food it was supposed to give a crusty brown gratiné.
And now - the large companies in France are complicating the issue even more.
They decided some time back that "raw" milk cheeses were dangerous to the health, but since vheese made from "sterilized" milk didn't have the taste required, they came up with the idea of a sort of mixture between raw and cooked, and imposed it, through their size and sales politics, upon the general public. In France, at least, avoid them, you'll eat better, and you'll support the smaller producers. The prices don't differ enormously, but the quality does,
They neglected to mention, naturally, that their concern was more in fulfilling European and Swiss laws which bans the exportation of raw milk cheeses, than protecting our health!
Incidentally, the Swiss ban even the importing of han or pork products, they claim "swine fever" is rife elsewhere, but not in Switzerland! I've even been obliged to dispose my ham sandwich for the journey in the rubbish bin when entering Switzerland - not the only reason for me to avoid Switzerland and the Swiss!
Should have had my "ripened to perfection Munster" in the car - for the Customs inspector - my fault!

Here is a link to pass away some time on the subject:





http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/all-about-cheese/stinky-washed-rind-cheeses/

Did you know you were breaking International law even when you took that cheese to eat on the journet back to the UK.....?
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