Do you know these delicious new French cheeses yet?
Now that we finally seem to be climbing out of the coronavirus slump, we can cautiously look back on the major changes that have taken place. Not only personally, but especially when it comes to things that can make us happy: hospitality! Food and drink! And… French cheese!
Because in this case of ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’, it turns out that during lockdown in France, two remarkable new cheeses were invented, and we can’t wait until we can go there to taste them. From the east to the south; once I’m on that autoroute, I’ll speed straight there…
A golden edge
Many people know a painful story about someone in their circle (or themselves) who experienced professional setbacks during the pandemic. But these cheesemakers turned adversity into an opportunity and, prompted by the circumstances surrounding coronavirus, created something wonderful instead: two new cheeses!
You can’t put a cow on pause
In the Vosges in northeastern France, Lionel and Laura Vaxelaire usually make Munster cheeses from the milk of their herd of thirty cows of an old local breed. But when the French lockdown began in March 2020, their sales plummeted by eighty percent within a week. And you can imagine; those cows don’t care about that. So when the aging cellars began to fill up, they decided to handle part of the production differently: instead of washing and turning each cheese every few days, they left some of them undisturbed…
Let it flow
And it worked out very well. Unlike their regular cheeses, this one developed a mottled gray rind, while the outer edge inside turned deliciously runny and the center became beautifully chalky. And delicious! The couple immediately applied for a patent after the first people were able to taste it and reacted with great enthusiasm. They named it Le Confiné; ‘the confined one’. It’s a huge success; they continue to produce it because demand is enormous.
Adversity can inspire
“Our cheese is now part of French history. It is beautiful and flavorful, and it shows how we were confronted with a terrible trauma. And ultimately overcame it,” says Laura Vaxelaire.
More good news
The second success story born from sorrow is that of Sylvain Crégut and his new La Bédigue de Nîmes cheese. Crégut, who originally comes from the southern French department of Gard, had a cheese shop in Auxerre in Burgundy. But when he too saw his turnover plummet because of the lockdown, he decided to close the doors and fulfill a cherished wish: move back south and rent a stall at Les Halles de Nîmes, one of the best covered markets in France.
Look close to home
At one point, he decided to focus on making cheese himself for the first time. He was an affineur, a connoisseur who had sold cheeses, but making them himself was new to him. He did have a very clear vision: the cheese had to symbolize the region and have a perfect balance between sweet and bitter. So he sourced milk from a local shepherd, used salt from the mines of Aigues-Morte and regularly washed the cheese in Carthagène; a sweet wine from the region that is often enjoyed as an aperitif. Once matured, he tops the cheeses with a few raisins soaked in the same wine.
Cheese is life
Once tasted and packaged, the light but characterful cheese immediately proved to be a huge success; he makes a hundred a week for his stall and they sell out like hot cakes. “I love cheese so much because it reflects people’s inventiveness and their desire to share and enjoy. And I’m so proud that I created a new one myself. Vive la France!” says Crégut.
We can only agree. The cheeses are not exported yet, so you’ll have to taste them on location (which of course is no punishment at all); Le Confiné at the farm shop of Au Petit Gravier and La Bédigue de Nîmes at the aforementioned covered market.
Cheese festival
Want to learn more about cheese and, above all, taste a whole lot of cheese? Then come to the first Amsterdam Cheese Festival! The Amsterdam Cheese Festival takes place on Sunday, October 24 and Monday, October 25, 2021. Here you can eat unlimited cheese from all over the world, at an amazing location too. So mark this date in bold in your calendar! À bientôt, see you there!
Also read:
- 5 surprising facts about blue cheese
- Forget the cheese and charcuterie board and make a burrata bar!
- Holy cow: this cheese miracle happened to the monks of Cîteaux Abbey
Source: Food and Wine
