Caseophile

Benedictine Blue Cheese

You'll have to go across to Canada to sample this unique cheese: a monastic blue cheese made by the monks of the abbey of St Benoît du Lac in the Estrie province of Quebec, not far from the frontier with the USA - an abbey founded in 1912 by the monks of St Wandrille in Normandy, France.

If indeed monasteries do get involved in cheese, it's not one in Normandy that you would expect to find involved in "Benedictine Blue"! Not only will you find hardly any blue cheese made in Normandy, which is better known for its white rind soft cheeses, but the monks of St Wandrille are usually known for their apiaries (NB: which give the famous antique dealers' wax as well as numerous varied honeys).

So??

So, it was the efforts of a Benedictine, brother Dominique Minier who, true to his order by obeying the orders of his Abbot, plunged into the study of microbiology and biochemistry to help the small artisanal cheese factory set up in 1943.

This monk decided to develop an "incomparable" cheese (that's what's called "good marketing": to stand out and be impossible to copy). Having spent time in Roquefort, he opted for a "blue", (semi hard, made with full cream milk, with a natural rind, matured throughout with penicillium roqueforti. In round form, weighing about 2 kg with grey or whitish rind. The smooth cheese is creamy, particularly in its heart. Has a mushroomy smell and a rich creamy taste with light touch of salt.

I've not yet had the opportunity of tasting it, but its description is appetising, and the description given in the Journal de Montréal newspaper prompts me to have you join in with this monastic adventure... Dominique's smile is reminiscent of those of Brother Nathaniel (Tamié) and Brother Raphaël (Citeaux), when they talk to me about their cheeses!

It’s the mirabelle (cherry plum) season!

On your marks... get set... off you go to the Côtes de Meuse (around Verdun) or the Colline de Sion & Lunéville, the Saintois region or even in or around Metz or make a short trip to Remiremont. I'm talking about Lorraine, of course – my part of the world. That's where you can have the infinite pleasure of savouring a freshly picked mirabelle at the peak of its ripeness.

It's the start of the season! But do remember it only lasts a couple of weeks. You'll be supporting our local production with its two varieties – Nancy mirabelles and Metz mirabelles – 250 producers, 400,000 trees, 2,000 hectares and about 6000 tonnes of fruit expected this year (5000 last year and 11,000 in 2009).

Where does the word "Mirabelle" come from? Is it from the latin mirabilis, marvellous? Or from the Greek myron perfume and balanos acorn? Or quite simply from the name of an alderman from Metz, called Mirabel, who is said to have given it his name around 1430?

When I was small, I took it that it was Stanislas who had introduced the cherry plum tree into Lorraine... quite wrongly, when I looked into the subject, as they've been talking about this fruit here since the return of the Crusades... So why is it so prevalent in this part of the world? To the extent that today over 80% of mirabelles harvested in the world come from Lorraine?

Well it's thanks to our climate. Yes, to our climate:

• An average Summer temperature below 25°
• Warm and cool (I'm not saying "cold") weather prior to the harvest

Still not convinced?

Look it up then on the Mirabelle Growers of Lorraine website (in French) or just call in on the Maison de la Mirabelle in Rozelieures, where the Grallet family who pick the mirabelles and, in particular, make them into jam, bottle them and make various alcoholic products (brandy, liqueurs and creams).

In my case, I often go to buy my fruit at the Fruit Cooperative of Billy sous les Côtes... when I don't have any ready in my orchard (which, sadly, is my case this year as they were hit by a very cold wind – or was it rain at the wrong moment – I can't recall).

And always remember that you don't just travel through Lorraine, you must stop and say "hello"!

There are in fact two main varieties (according to Wikipedia)

• Metz mirabelles: thin skin, orangey-yellow in sun and often greeny-yellow in the shade. Pruinose surface; ripe in August
• Nancy mirabelles: bigger than Metz mirabelles: orangey yellow occasionally slightly greenish or lightly orangey red. Quite often with little red dots and often a small brownish spot, light pruinose surface; ripe mid-August.

And how do you tell is a Mirabelle is just ripe? Its stone should come clean away from the flesh by itself!

German designer Anke Domaske and her fashions made from milk

Impressive, isn't it ?