Fromages du supermarché

Supermarket cheese. Of course, in America, that's about all we have. Only in a few small regions of the U.S. can you find farmhouse or dairy-made cheeses. Two of the cheeses below are what the French call "industrial" cheeses — they're made in factories called fromageries.

A color-coordinated selection of cheeses from SuperU

That doesn't mean they aren't good. I'm sure they are the cheeses most French people consume on a regular basis. The real farm-made cheeses, and the cheeses with an appellation, an A.O.C., are a special treat, of course. All three of these cheeses sell for between two and three euros at the supermarket.

At SuperU the other day, I was looking for a piece of Pont-l'Evêque, which is an A.O.C. cheese made in Normandy from cow's milk and which Walt and I both really like. But I couldn't find any. It's funny, I remember back in the '70s, when I lived in Normandy, I thought Pont-l'Evêque was a very pungent cheese, much stronger than the Normandy Camembert cheese I ate most often (I practically lived on it for a year when I was a poor teaching assistant).

Since I couldn't find any Pont-l'Evêque, I decided to buy a cheese called Le Vieux Pané. It's made in the Mayenne, which is a little province just north of the Loire, not far west of Saint-Aignan and on the southern border of Normandy. It first appeared on the market in 1978.

Vieux Pané is made with pasteurized cow's milk. It is ripened for three weeks before being sent to market. Because it is "industrial," Vieux Pané doesn't have a season — it's the same year-round. One web site says it resembles Pont-l'Evêque, which is true. You can use it in cooking to make sauces or fondues.

Another cheese I picked up, just out of curiosity, was a Saint Albray. It is also made industrially down in the southwest, in a town called Jurançon (known for its wines). The same company also makes a cheese called Chaumes, which has been around for a long time.

Saint Albray is also made from pasteurized cow's milk, and it's also ripened for three weeks before being put on the market. In fact, Le Vieux Pané and Saint Albray are very similar to each other in taste, if not in texture: mild, creamy, and sweet, not sharp. Some might say wimpy. Like Vieux Pané, it can be used in cooking.

The third cheese is one I've blogged about before, a Neufchâtel from the town of Neufchâtel-en-Bray in Normandy, north of Rouen. It's one of my favorites. And it's not made industrially. It has the A.O.C. designation, which means it is made by farmers and dairies according to strict standards.

The official Neufchâtel cheese site says that Neufchâtel is the oldest Normandy cheese. It goes back more than a thousand years. It's made from raw cow's milk (that's what au lait cru on the label means), and is salty and more flavorful than the other two cheeses. Neufchâtel is made either by farmers or dairies in a small, well-defined area of upper Normandy.

I've been eating Neufchâtel for 36 years. It's very different in taste and texture from Camembert or Brie — it's saltier and grainier. I've only ever seen it in the heart shape, but apparently it can also come in squares. Because it's made from raw milk, Neufchâtel has a season — it's best from October to May. And it would be a shame to cook it. Just eat it as it is, preferably at room temperature, on good bread with a glass of tasty wine.

If you want to start enjoying French cheeses, the distinction between commercially made ("industrial") and A.O.C. products is an important one to know about.