Caseophile

Cheese activity in the Gorges du Tarn – 50 years on…

The Fromagerie des Gorges du Tarn was the first cheese operation to set up in Onet le Château, a commune close to Rodez, half a century ago. We are in the heart of France, in the Aveyron department, just below the Lot and the Cantal.

When you talk about this splendid spot, the first cheese you think of is Roquefort, but you cannot overlook the champion of cheeses made with cows' milk – Le Bleu des Causses.

Most of this is made in Onet and sent to mature in the natural caverns at the start of the Gorges du Tarn. Just make a stop at Peyrelade the next time you feel like going across the Millau viaduct! Not only will you get another perspective across that artistic work of engineering, but you could discover a cheese which could die out if we're not too careful in looking after it. In the 80s and 90s they made around 2000 tonnes a year... these days it's 650. Does that worry you? It does me.

But let's come back to the cheese company in Rodez, which locals often refer to as "Valmont".

I know the place well, having worked there for 4 years ... quite a unique spot these days of specialisation, as here they make:

- UHT milk in cartons

- Cream

- Powdered milk (and whey)

- Fresh pasta (that well-known Rondelé)

- Blue cheese (Bleu des Causses, as we've just said)

- Extra hard pasta (sold principally in Southern Italy!)

Their director is therefore very ... eclectic – wouldn't you say? Well, no – that's not the best description – let's call him a generalist of milk and its derivatives. I read with pleasure that he has not moved on since my departure about 12 years ago, ample proof of his ability to manage such diversity.

Bonne continuation! As we would say to all concerned.... and if you want to visit the maturing caves of Bleu des Causses, you'll have to go to Peyrelade, a tiny villageat the beginning of the Tarn Valley

 

International Cheese Awards Show opens in Nantwich, Cheshire

This well attended annual show in the North of England, featuring competitors from 26 countries opened on 27^th July.

For more info and a list of winners go to their website:

www.internationalcheeseawards.co.uk

And it is also currently featured on the BBC website – where you can have some fun with its activities. Try www.bbc.co.uk/news.

Where to buy your wine in Remiremont (88)?

So firstly, where is Remiremont? Close to my part of the world – between Epinal and Mulhouse. And it's a small town but with a long history – which I found out more about from their website.

The town developed harmoniously with the abbey founded there in 620 by a Leude (a grand vassal) of the court of Austrasia called Romaric, whose name was adopted as "Romaricimons", which later became Remiremont. The abbess of this abbey of the Dames Nobles attended the diet of the Holy-Empire with the rank of "princess". She only depended "spiritually" from the Pope and was therefore influential over all the courts of Europe.

Yes, the Abbey of the Noble Ladies: all the feminine nobility of what has become NE France came through there. Some stayed for ever, others moved on. They lived in separate houses, only coming together for services and other forms of study.

And a small "court" of tradesmen and bourgeois set up close by and you can still find traces of them in Remiremont's streets with their magnificent arcades ... and its superb network of vaulted cellars.

Is all this why Bruno Lamela called his cellar "les vins en voute" ("the vaulted wines")? I don't know, but for some ten years now, I do know I can come to him for some great bottles. His passion for whisky, and wine of course, but also countless other things, will lead to very professional advice on what you are looking for. Worth a detour, as they say.

Les Vins en Voûte – 26 rue de la Xavée in Remiremont.

National Gastronomy Day in France

We've known about this celebration for some time now: September 23^rd will be named every year from now on "National Gastronomy Day". A decision made by Frédéric Lefebvre, Secretary of State reporting to the French Ministre de l'Economie.

Or to be exact, this will be known as the Fête de la Gastronomie. There's already one such festival for Music and this one will aim to promote French culinary heritage through its chefs and their suppliers – following on from the nomination by UNESCO of the "French gastronomic meal" to their World Heritage list (already mentioned on this site).

Why September 23^rd? Because autumn has arrived...

It's a time to discover what goes on in France's great restaurants - well worth it!

At the same time throughout that weekend (23^rd – 25^th) the 9^th annual Cuisines en Fête celebration will be taking place throughout France, supported by various national ministries and local governments. (Click here for their website with the details - in French).

This will be a vast event involving some 700,000 participants and 900 gastronomic events. They give 30 pages of recipes.

If you're planning a trip to France at that time, it could be well worth looking it up and joining in.

Allez-y et Bon appétit!

A tour of my store – L’Epicerie du Goût in Nancy (Lorraine)

It's been a great pleasure for me and my delicatessen in Nancy – L'Epicerie du Goût - to be featured just recently in a major local fortnightly economic journal – Les Tablettes Lorraines.

As I've always hoped that any reader of this blog who happens to visiting Nancy (a truly charming historic town, it's worth reminding you) might call in to see us, I thought it worth not only attaching the article but adding a full translation.

Just one point however – my translator found it is not that easy to fully translate the name of our store. A dictionary will tell you that "Epicerie" is the general world for grocery, but it can have, as in our case, more the sense of "delicatessen". "Goût" you can translate simply as taste, but it will not surprise you that in a gastronomic country like France, without an adjective it tends to mean "good taste".

So here's the article entitiled "L'Epicerie du Goût ne manque pas de saveurs", even more difficult to translate. But here is a rather literal effort: "The Delicatessen of Good Taste is not short of flavoursome food".

Not quite there?! May he therefore ask any bilingual readers to offer a better solution, if they have one!

The text, written by Clémence Grassi, runs as follows:

L'Epicerie du Goût... a name that's a good description of the store, quite sumptuous and with products which are on offer to you by Marie de Metz Noblat, the lady of the house. Wines, groceries, cheeses, jams, sweet delights, you'll find everything on the well-stocked shelves of her boutique. A feast for the eyes and the taste buds.

Since April 2010, Marie de Metz Noblat and her niece Bénédicte have been welcoming gourmands and gourmets to Place Vaudémont (in the heart of Nancy). Marie de Metz Noblat loves her products and knows them well. 25 years in the marketing of foods, in cheeses to be more precise, have whetted her appetite and allowed her to build up a unique network.

"The idea of opening a delicatessen had been around inside my head for 15 years. In 2006 I got a university diploma in both sensorial analysis and in Provence wine tasting, and I was off".

On the menu, you find inescapable local products from Lorraine of course, mirabelles, bergamot oranges and macaroons – but not just those! There are 1300 items in total, but all with one thing in common: quality.

"Generally speaking, I favour small producers and brands which are not yet well known".

In this way, her choice of wines is inspired by what's in her own cellar and new products keep arriving in the store every week.

"I go along with what I fall for, the latest being Aixterra which makes mouth-watering melon creams and rose creams too, delicious!"

Products from monasteries and abbeys are also well displayed.

" It's through religious conviction, but also because of the quality of these products: confectionery, cheeses, jams, fresh eggs..."

In this case, gourmandise can't really be called a sin, since it helps to support their congregations.

L'Epicerie du Goût also supports local products, the Meuse countryside to be precise, having been the first store outside of the Meuse department to gain the Meuse&Merveilles seal of approval. And its clientele knows what's good for them. From tourists, who can't resist Mirabelle calissons, to gourmets looking for ingredients for molecular gastronomy, to say nothing of gourmands in the quest for something short and sweet.

"It's all going well - that's true. I've even been questioned about setting up a franchise, but I've refused. Let's see if we're still around in 3 years time" Marie de Metz Noblat tells us calmly.

And since good taste is something you work at and learn about, every month Marie shares her knowledge at her three-hour tasting workshops around the country, in which she reveals how well wines and cheeses go together. A convivial and tasteful discovery as one would expect from this lady of the house.

Goat cheese with a four-leaved clover shape – a detective story

A piece of news to those interested in cheese history! The goat cheese producers of Le Perche (in NW France) are trying to find out the origin of the mould in the shape of a four leaved clover, which they have been using for some years. They'd like to know why and for exactly how long this rather special shaped mould has been used – particularly in this region, where you're more likely to find cows and horses, but less so its goats. The mould was found in a local museum, but it was not known whether it was originally used for cheese making or something else.

But now it's the shape of farmhouse goat cheese – made from raw or full cream milk (without frozen or frozen curds) matured for about 12 days, covered with ash, nice and soft. Mmmm! It is said it can be found at the Rungis market near Paris. Let me know if you've found any cheese shops selling this marvel.

For more info (in French), go to the website of the Goat Cheese producers of Perche et Loir.

Small cheese survives a heart attack

I spoke to you a short while ago about a David and Goliath situation regarding the use of the word "Coeur" (heart) in brands of cheese in France. RichesMonts, a major cheese company sued, in a heavy-handed way, a tiny farmhouse producer from the Lozère area who had dared to name its cheese "Coeur de Vache", too close to their liking, to their major brand "Coeur de Lion". The National Institute for Industrial Property found in favour of the plaintiff saying there was a risk of confusion among the public between the two brands.

The Court of Appeal in Aix en Provence however has now found in favour of the defendant, and you can see why by comparing the two packs side by side.

Which prompts me to give pleasure to Marcel Gousseau, once a cheese professional and now a regular reader of the French version of this blog, with this selection of (current and past) cheese brands with "heart". Quite a collection.

And this prompts me (the translator) to wonder if, among British readers of this site, there are some who are old enough to remember having in childhood a collection of cheese labels alongside their postage stamps and foreign coins!

Green light from Brussels for the takeover of Parmalat by Lactalis

Objections will not be forthcoming from the authorities concerning competitive legislation: they have given the green light to the Lavallois group.

Nor, it is said, from the main banking shareholder of Parmalat, Intesa-San Paolo, who appear at last interested by the financial offer.

Result of the takeover: 8^th July. Worth following!

Where to buy your wine in Reims?

In a cellar. Of course. But a genuine cellar where, up to a short while ago, bottles of champagne were aging quietly on behalf of a local wine merchant.

A cellar covering 400sq. metres on three levels, the deepest being nine metres below ground. The other day it was only 14°C down there, while the outside temperature was around 30!

These days you'll find there, of course, some splendid examples of champagne, but not only the bubbly stuff, thank heavens! Because Fabrice Parisot has a fine list of vineyards in his address book, which he is happy to share with his customers.

Talk to him about La Sorga and its slogan "French wine is not dead". I tried this organic marvel, made from its small production of Marsanne and white Grenache, a naturally sweet Languedoc wine ... to be appreciated for instance with a Fourme d'Ambert cheese.

Address: Les Caves du Forum – 10 rue Courmeaux in Reims.