French people love their cheese.  It is rumored that France produces over 400 varieties of cheese.  As with many other French foods, there are official laws governing how cheese is produced, what can be truly called cheese, and how the packaging must be labeled for it to be sold in a store.  Studying all 400 types of French cheese would be quite a task for any food aficionado, so we will start out easy with a few of the most well known types of French cheeses.

 

Brie cheese is the most recognizable type of French cheese.  Brie is named after the region of France that shares its name.  It is thought to have originated in this region, and the cheese allegedly gained popularity when Charlemagne developed an infatuation with the flavor all the way back in the 8^th century.  The defining characteristics of brie are that it is a soft, light colored cheese.  It features a crusty, white mold on the outside that mystifies many who eat the cheese for the first time.  The official answer is that the moldy rind is meant to be eaten with the cheese and will not harm you if you consume it.  Since brie is so soft, it is usually spread onto bread or crackers when it is eaten.  Brie is also sometimes served with jam and the contrast of the sweet fruit with the creamy cheese is a very nice combination.  Another type of French cheese, Coulommiers, is considered the cousin of brie.  It is produced in a similar fashion but the end result is smaller and thicker than brie with slightly nuttier flavor.

 

Roquefort cheese is a variety of blue cheese that is produced in France.  This cheese is hard, white and crumbly and it has noticeable veins of blue mold running through it.  Roquefort is made from ewe's milk instead of cow's milk, which gives it a distinctive flavor from some other blue cheeses.  Roquefort has a very unique production process.  According to legend, the cheese was first produced when a shepherd boy was eating his lunch and saw a beautiful girl in the distance.  He set his food down to go and talk to her, and when he came back the cheese had gotten moldy.  The shepherd was hungry so he decided to eat it anyway, and roquefort cheese was born.  Roquefort really is given its flavor from mold that comes from the soil of these caves in France.  There are all kinds of ways to harvest this mold and add it to the cheese, but through modern science it can now be created in a laboratory, making mass production and consistency much easier.

 

Munster is another cheese that has gained a reputation around the world.  It is widely available in supermarkets of many countries, but it got started in the Alsace region of France all the way back in the seventh century.  This cheese is made from cow's milk that is unpasteurized and is allowed to mature in damp cellars.  During the time the cheese is maturing, it is washed with brine and the moisture creates the bacteria that contribute to munster's taste and color.  The finished munster cheese is a light colored soft cheese with a very strong odor and flavor.

 

The most fun part of learning about French cheese is most definitely tasting the finished product.  The French often eat their cheese spread on bread and this can be eaten for any meal from breakfast to an after dinner snack.  It is also an enjoyable exercise to pair different types of cheese with various French wines.