Caseophile

You can now visit my own deli store (l'épicerie du goût) on line!

My "Epicerie du Goût" has now been on line for about a month and you are warmly invited to come in and look around on www.epicerie-du-gout.fr. My friends Jean-Claude Balès and Virginie Veysset of AKOA (do not hesitate to call them, they often work with UK companies) kindly put it together for me.

Again, if you ever come to Nancy, you'll get a great welcome and a really wide choice – très gastronomique!

That Fauquet poster you just can’t miss

I almost had an accident when I was driving recently and saw a huge roadside poster with a picture of Dominique Duquesnoy, a Master Cheese Maker from the Fauquet company, showing his Maroilles and saying: "It's from the North and from the heart".

It was not the advertisement itself which hit me - but I know D. Duquesnoy well and to see him larger than life in two adjacent posters by the roadside woke me from my driving torpor.

And I was not the only one to be affected … someone ahead had gone into a car in front of him.

;-)

Bravo, Dominique for your cheerful appearance which is currently spread around the major towns in the North and East of France. Nice to see you on the main road saying "cheese!"

The elusive Athezza

In my travels in real life, it's twice that I have seen this pottery cow called Athezza. And as a committed collector of such ceramic cattle, I'd just love to buy this one but can't find out where. Any ideas, please?

 

A new website for Fourme d’Ambert

Have a look at this website… It’s new! It’s blue! It does not have an English translation (to date) but if you don’t read French, it’s worth just checking into the site for the mouth-watering photography of this

“softest, mildest, sweetest of all blue cheeses”!

 

Agriculture – a fashionable activity!

 

(Sorry for the poor quality of these pictures taken from the internet)

 

With the aim of making jobs in agriculture a more attractive proposition, the FNSEA, the main agricultural trade union in France, has just started a heavy advertising campaign on TV, the internet and on posters in Paris to coincide with the Salon de l’Agriculture. And this is all perfectly understandable.

The stylish campaign has been created by the ORC – Images et Stratégies d’employeur - and is aimed at telling 15-25 year olds that there are plenty of à la mode jobs in agriculture and getting them to visit the www.metiersdelagriculture.fr website. (Click here to have a look at the 6 short commercials for yourself).

2 million euros are being spent to prove that jobs in farming are not corny … and that the world of agriculture is looking for input. In the current crisis it could just work!

I find it great that the trade union has resorted to this sort of advertising … Don’t you?

Found in my archives

Vive la France !! A poster harking back to the time when it was considered sans problème to drink lots of alcohol …

 

Yes, it does say “santé” – health – very much over the top. Particularly as the harmful effects of alcohol were already known at this time…

 

“Gaieté” – fun – you bet

 

As for “espérance” – hope or expectations - what were they thinking of? That a sweet girl would leap into your arms? (As for me, I feel jealous that it doesn’t show a hunky Apollo!)

 

Another cow for my collection

She’s really cute, isn’t she?My thanks to the French railways for this musical cow!!

PDO Bleu de Causses (continued)

Those people who know me are well aware that I’ve a very soft spot for this poorly known cheese which has been losing sales year after year… nudging up to the 1600 tonne level in 1995, these days it sells hardly a half of that volume per year.

The "syndicate" responsible has now a website all about its cheese : www.bleu-des-causses.com. Check it out and above all, don't forget to buy some on your next visit to your cheese shop, and savour that special taste from those big picturesque limestone plateaus : the Causses.

Spanish Cheeses

Here’s news of a website (in French) set up by Spanish cheese exporters that’s worth a visit!

www.fromagesdespagne.com

In fact, I’m in the process of putting together for early May a discovery workshop called “Cheese, Ham and Wine of Spain”. Would you be interested?

A touch of humour

Here’s a website of a real cheese lover. But above all of an excellent artist, full of humour…you may have recognised the “style” of Voutch. You can discover the animation of this drawing in its totality on his site. I like it a lot!

A camembert that tells the time!

If you’ve had a bad night and need a cheerful way to greet the day, I’ve just found a camembert that tells the time…I came across its inventor, Daniel Foulachon a short while ago, at no. 31 rue Cler in the 7^th arrondissement in Paris, where Fabrice and his team run their cheese shop. Daniel is a clockmaker turned cheese merchant. When the Lip factory in the Rhône valley closed he changed to selling cheeses in the local markets down there. And he decided to combine (and patent) his two passions.

I was stunned by the wide selection of these wooden boxes to which had been added a glass cover and a clock mechanism etc. and I fell for this clock featuring an old cheese label from the Marne area on which is written (in French):

With good cheese you can appreciate good wine

With good cheese you just swallow bad wine!

Just pay a visit to this colourful creator as these make very attractive presents. You’ll find him, so I’m told, in rue Cler every Sunday but don’t hesitate to contact him by e-mail

mr.camembert@hotmail.fr or by phone on +33 146 38 02 96

 

 

“Live life to the full” – from Nestlé

Like to receive a recipe a day? Not my cup of tea, but perhaps you’d be interested. If so, log into RSS at Nestlé’s new website Nestlé Club “Croquons la vie”. (“Live life to the full”)

And also on this same site, you can give your opinion on certain products, do some “what to serve him” tests… but, be careful, or it’ll become a habit!

Even water can kill you

On two occasions – one after the other – it’s been said to me that water can be a deadly source.

Firstly in talking to a member of the “Solidarités” NGO (Website in English), concerned with offering emergency humanitarian help and one of whose priorities is the provision of drinking water and who is asking for your support in its website http://www.votregouttedeau.org. There are alarming statistics: one person dies that way every 15 minutes..

Then in reading the blog of Beatrice de Reynal, a nutritionist who speaks frankly, I learn from one of her daily articles of a warning against thinking that all our food is sterile and that one should eat a varied diet so as to vary the poisons it may contain. And that’s why I prefer eating unpasteurised rather than pasteurised cheese to continue gradually immunising myself, thereby creating my own anti-bodies!

So let’s end on Pasteur’s famous pronouncement: “wine is the healthiest and most hygienic drink there is”. Let’s not forget that in his time, drinking water from the tap did not exist and water from the well was..well.. not too clean. They used wine then – it hardly rated more than 8.5% alcohol – to sterilise it…

Will we ever have a High Speed Train to the Auvergne?

A plug for a petition… even if I don’t usually go in for this sort of thing. But here, it’s worth while; sign up to say the TGV High Speed train must be extended soon to Clermont Ferrand. Yes’it’s planned, but the target date keeps on being pushed back…

The website of the Conseil Régional d’Auvergne is sponsoring this petition that over 1500 people have already signed.

Swiss recipes

An interesting initiative, undertaken by 15 fans of cheese cuisine with recipes using Swiss cheeses, that’s worth following up – http//:toutunfromagesuisse.com

Drinking in moderation…

You’re all well aware of the warning about “drinking in moderation”… but what is moderation???

The Brewers’ Federation of France started an advertising campaign today based on their website http://www.reperes-alcool.com to help consumers calculate the alcohol level of beer.

The advert also directs you to a 2^nd site www.2340.fr . So which one do you consult? In fact the Brewers are reflecting the initiative of 6 professional organisations in the world of alcoholic drinks, developed “with the support of the European Forum for Responsible Drinking”. 

These are symbolic figures based on a WHO study from 1980 which can lead people to drink with greater moderation.
But they are a far cry from the preoccupations of the signatories of the 4 vérités sur le vin (4 home truths about wine) … Moreover I note that wine producers are conspicuously absent from the list of the organisations supporting the 2340 rule…

Cheesy mascot

I give in…I just can’t resist showing you the mascot of the Jean Gaugry cheese company from near Gevry-Chambertin. ..

Dip into their website… gaugryfromager.com …and you’ll get a better low-down on the different cheeses of this top-quality

Burgundy

company, such as Epoisses and l’Ami de Chambertin, before you actually pay them a visit of course (the cheese factory has a visitors’ itinerary from which you can watch manufacture as it happens).

Milk products are friends for life

“Staying Alive” as revised and corrected by the Bony Boys and their Buddha cow… this is the new advertising campaign for the French milk profession!

 

Just watch the videos on their website http://nosamispourlavie.com by clicking on the chunk of emmental (with its big holes) situated below the cow on its home page. It’s worth it!

And it gives me the opportunity to mention that the different websites of La Maison du Lait (Milk) are being revised, such as produits-laitiers.com

Which reminds me of the campaign with “Lovely”- the jet black little cow from the Swiss milk producers – which is not only attractive (“milk strengthens bones”) but very different … limited to outdoor advertising. She was also the star of a series of very pleasant TV-spots used until 2004, since when … the tone has changed and I’m very puzzled by its real advertising value currently…

New Internet site “PDO Cheeses from Auvergne”

There we go! I had promised to alert you once it had gone on line… it has, since 8th July:  the PDO cheeses from Auvergne have modified their presence on the Net with a very bright, very spacious, very green and blue and brown website, in keeping with their region of origin.

 
It’s not quite ready yet (especially the English version!), some headings are missing which will appear in the course of the summer, as for instance a photo collection, background colours, e-cards, games…but you can already visualise your trip along the

Auvergne AOC   Route des Fromages (Cheese Road)

and try out their recipes… Happy Holidays! And see you on www.fromages-aoc-auvergne.com

Originally posted in French 9th July '07
 

A fun website

Michel left a comment on my French blog, pointing out two fun websites concerned with goat cheese … in fact for the chilled goat cheese brand “Petit Billy”. The official site is
http://www.petitbilly.com

and another one even more surprising - http://www.monpetitbilly.com and its wandering goat… ;-)) where you can write your own blog if you wish… all to get Petit Billy goat cheese spoken about of course… and in particular to publish recipes based on goat cheese.

A nice little initiative from the Triballat-Noyal company in Brittany which has been producing this brand since 1986… even if the site could be improved by for example the use of their little goat in a more amusing way (games, screen savers, e-cards …)

Originally posted in French 4th July '07

Entremont

In France, 63% of emmental is bought already grated... now we can tell you this cheese is considered no longer as a real cheese but an ingredient.

It's the reason of this excellent Entremont campaign, which fights in ppoints of sales against Président and its  "coeur de meule" (cheese's heart)

At the same time, we had in France a campaign with a very similar picture... but for fast food burger  Spiderman !!

Originally posted in French 23rd April '07

No comment…

A postcard just sent to me …. No comment needed – but certainly a few French lessons are.. !!

Translation of this Mark Twain's quotation :

consumed with moderation, water cannot harm

 

(c) Editions du Désastre, 21 rue Visconti 75006 Paris. Others cards on their site : cliquez ici.

Originally posted in French 29th June '07

Who wants some cheese? (Qui veut du fromage?) (blog)

Supporting this blog is one of the major actors of the French cheese network : the Bongrain Group which you may know better by its brands (Coeur de Lion, St Albray, Vieux Pané, Tartare, Caprice des Dieux…)

It’s considerably better that the Internet site of the same name (see site) – which is minimal!

On the blog, 8 women give their opinions on various subjects, among which there is the subject “one cheese, one wine” which I shall keep a close eye on…

Watch this space

Originally posted in French 21rd June '07

100% goat

I speak to you most of the time of cows rather than goats or ewes or buffalos etc. 

However I am very fond of goat cheese, in particular the Sainte Maure de Touraine AOC. The other day I had the chance to taste a crottin fermier in Auvergne, quite nice: try it yourself!
"Cendré" (coated in wood ash), extremely dry, bought in the market of Issoire. I am trying to get hold of the address of the producer…

 

And if you too are 100% goat, pay a visit to the fromagesdechevre.com site! (*) At the present time (11June – 11 July) there is a big competition ( grand concours ) which aims to gather together a maximum number of recipes based on goat cheese. If your entry is chosen, you can win a coffee maker or one of 20 “goats at play” aprons…

 

(*) my comment on the opening page of the fromagesdechevre.com site: it’s…very white…not very welcoming.
And you? What do you think?

Originally posted in French 13th June '07

New internet site for the Comté site link

In my in-box this weekend, a notice of a radical change in the Comté Internet site

And the result is worth while! There are now 3 complementary sites

- Comté Gourmand : very tasty!!

 -      Les Routes du Comté : for you to discover the region and visit the vineyards

 - The site of la Maison du Comté in Poligny (to visit without restraint)

 
I particularly liked the portraits of the vineyard people, a passionate insight into…those passionate people of the Comté.

 “The Comté teaches us to savour the passing of time”

Originally posted in French 12th June '07

New Président website

Received this week in my mail, a Président newsletter, directing me to a new internet site that’s much more fun…

Come on, like a challenge? I got 10/10 in the cheese quiz (easy..peasy!)

 Just a suggestion: when will the saga of the Président ad campaigns appear on this site?

Originally posted in French 2nd June 2006

Ad for camembert

An old poster photographed yesterday in a Parisian restaurant...ah! it's for the BISSON brand... which was in the range I had when I was Marketing Director of "Fromagerie des Terroirs"

The Bisson family was one of the great Norman families from the Livarot region. 
More info to be found on the camembert-country.com site (an absolute must!!)

Originally posted in French 22nd May 07

Wine Advertising

Found a few months back in a restaurant in the 14th arrondissement of Paris:
Ad for (bio) wine producers of Bourgueil Catherine and Pierre Breton (ah that famous Breton vine of Bourgueil!!) Les Galichets - 8 rue du Peu Muleau - 37140-RESTIGNE

And another picture which (always drink with moderation, of course!!!) is not an advert but an amusing poster which I could not stop myself from photographing in a wine bar (au Petit Verdot - rue Foucroy 75017 Paris)

originally posted in French by MMN 10th May 07

The New President

A really "viral" advertising campaign the aim being to get internauts to log in ... and play!

The Président brand is taking advantage of current events (the presidential campaign) to launch a new presentation called "le nouveau Président" (The New President) with its packaging which help to preserve the taste.

It's worth dipping into their website:  lenouveaupresident.fr

Even if the sort of game you find there has existed since time immemorial and even if my favourite Internet agency created for me in 2004 a great game entitled "The Hole Hunt" for the Swiss PDO Le Gruyere, it still is a bit of fun.

Not taking into account those hilarous videos on dailymotion. Well done! I'll go straight away and buy a new President, but then to buy again will depend on the taste and I'm not promising anything ;-) even if for example I am fond of the "Président de Campagne" (I promise nobody paid me to write that!! But my professional code of ethics obliges me to tell you the truth!)

Originally posted by MMN in French 11th May 07

Yolait advertising

One of my friends has just sent me this old postcard, obviously post-war as it shows Citroen 2cvs and Renault 4cvs.
A man is trying to push a cow inside a Parisian bus which features an ad for YOLAIT milk.

Three comments  :

1) The photo comes from a fascinating collection belonging to the Roger-Viollet agency, founded in 1938 in the Rue de Seine currently containing some 300,000 numbered photographs out of the 8 million in its archive.

2) What's Yolait? The old name of Yoplait perhaps?? No info on the net about this brand. If anybody  out there could confirm my theory, that would be great!

3) Post-war = need for a high energy diet to revitalise the population = beginning of  "pro-milk" campaigns in schools... In fact it was in 1954 that Pierre Mendès-France launched the distribution of sweetened milk to all school children in France as from January 1955, following in the steps of the "Anglo-Saxons", wishing to fight the alcoholism prevalent in the countryside ...to the displeasure of the wine growers who would have preferred the distribution of fruit juice!  But at the time fruit and vegetables were not that popular...

originally posted in French by MMN 29th May 07