How to eat cheese properly
in the French style
In France, cheese is a must dish for lunch and dinner. A dish, rather than a snack. And the dish name is 'plateau de fromages' - cheese platter. It is served after the main course and before dessert. This should be emphasize particularly, because incorrect to say that the French eat cheese for dessert. For them, as for most other nations, dessert - it's something sweet.
However, this is not a once and final rule. Why not put into the mouth piece of aromatic cheese for a snack, is it not very French? Yes, in the French cookbooks you can find the following sentence too: "contrary to popular belief, cheese can be eaten at any time." More of that, cheese may accompany some of the traditional dishes, which is explicitly stated in the recipes..
Cheese platter and cheese knife
There is always some diversity of cheese varieties on the platter. Their number and varieties are not limited by anything
except taste, imagination, a beauty of positioning, and finally, by the possibilities of the one, who had ordered the dish.
Perhaps, there may lie at the top round cheese with a crust, covered with white mold. This is Chaource - soft cheese, which is made in Champagne and Burgundy. In the middle of the platter there may lie a half of the Murol.
This cheese is related to the family of the uncooked (from raw cow's milk), pressed cheeses made in Auvergne by industrial way (in creameries). It is covered with red wax.
On the right - there lay a slice of another famous Auvergne cheese Cantal. It also pressed, made from raw cow's milk unboiled cheese.
On the left - in the round box - Epoisses de Bourgogne. It is a soft, creamy cheese, covered in an lightly-brown coating. Some gourmets say, it is one of the best cheeses of France.
Finally, you may find on the platter a fragrant slab of Emmental de Savoie - traditional gourmet cooked pressed cheese..
Guests cut a piece of cheese they liked, and put it at their plates. As a rule, to do this they use a special knife that has at the top two claws, which make it a plug. Sometimes a few knives are placed on the platter, not to "spoil" a cheese with the taste of another. Guests eat cheese with a special knife also, but no forks. They cut with a knife a small piece of cheese and put it on a small piece of bread. Washed down with wine.
Speaking of wine. Areas known for its cheeses, are often known for its wine. It is therefore clear that to match such cheeses it is recommend to take a local wine. For example, Tomme de Savoie cheese perfectly matches the Savoyard wine, which you would be obligatory offered in Haute-Savoie region (eg, Cote de Nuits Villages or Morey Saint Denis).
For cheeses Briquette du Forez or cendre d'Oliver would fit wines from the Loire Valley.
However, every rule has always a mass of exceptions. Experts often prefer to enjoy cheese, washed down with wine from other parts of France and even from abroad.
Gourmet's tastes are as varied in choice of red, pink or white wine.
We all know that French cheeses are often very fragrant. Gourmet's tastes are as varied in choice of red, pink or white wine. For these cheeses would better fit young and rough wine, not delicate and noble one. French cider in this case would also be a good choice.
For example, Camembert often washed down with a young red wine or cider.
