What was especially chaotic at SuperU was the condition of the store. It seemed that nearly every aisle in the place was being re-stocked, which meant that employees with big palettes of bags, boxes, cans, jars, and bottles were in the way everywhere. I found some of the items I went there to buy, but there were several that I couldn't find. As a result, Walt has to go to the supermarket again today. He'll go across the river to Intermarché in Noyers-sur-Cher. I wish him better luck than I had.
Meanwhile, here are some of the other cheeses on offer this week at SuperU. This ad shows Comté cheese for the same price I paid for Abondance yesterday. Blue cow's-milk cheeses from the central mountains of France, the Auvergne region, are considerably less expensive than Comté. One is called Bleu d'Auvergne, and the other is Fourme d'Ambert — Ambert is a town in Auvergne.
More expensive is the Burgundy cheese called by the brand name Brillat-Savarin, at 14.50€ per kilogram. It was "invented" toward the end of the 19th century. Another cheese from the Alps is called Tomme de Savoie, at 11.50€ per kilo. Both the Tomme de Savoie and the Comté are made from raw (unpasteurized) cow's milk. Different Tommes (or Tomes) are made in several mountainous regions of France, some from cow's milk and others from either goat's or ewe's milk.
I mentioned Intermarché above. It's our other local supermarket and it also has a good selection of cheeses on special offer. This must be cheese season. There's Brie de Meaux, which is made in the area centered on a town east of Paris. Another variety of Brie is called Brie de Melun, produced southeast of Paris around the towns of Melun and Fontainebleau. Melun's style of Brie, which needs to be aged longer (un affinage plus long in French), is saltier and stronger-tasting than the Meaux style. Both styles are made from unpasteurized cow's milk. The two other cheeses here are a goat's milk cheese called La Cabriquette, and another Comté, this one aged for 18 months.
The very white cheese here is made from a mixture of ewe's and goat's milk. It's called Onetik and is made in the Basque Country of southwestern France, in the Pyrenees Mountains. It's aged for 2½ months and is said to be good with a glass of champagne.
There are so many cheeses in France to chose from! Coulomiers is another cheese of the Brie family. I like Bleu d'Auvergne better than Roquefort, not as strong, but I don't think i ever tasted Fourme d'Ambert. Two of my favorite, are Comté and Morbier because of my maternal ancestry in Franche-Comté! On the paternal side, Maroilles, not so much because it can get as stinky ss Époisses!
ReplyDeleteI meant to mention Coulommiers. I think that most people don't think of it as a variety of Brie, but I may be wrong. I also like Bleu d'Auvergne better than Roquefort, because it's slightly milder. And Fourme d'Ambert too; it's widely available. I personally like both Comté and Morbier, but also Maroilles.
DeleteI didn't mean to say that Coulommiers isn't a kind of Brie — it is. I've always thought a Coulommiers cheese is more like an overgrown Camembert.
DeleteThere is also a nice new cheese, Bleu de Bresse, created in 1950, that is mild and creamy if I recall correctly. I haven't had it in ages!
DeleteI've been eating and enjoying Bleu de Bresse (now called Bresse Bleu) since the 1970s. Another good soft blue cheese is Bleu de Gex, from the Jura region. Ten or 12 years ago, I could buy a good goat's milk cheese here that resembled Bresse Bleu, but it seems to have disappeared now.
DeleteWe tried Bleu de Gex when we were in the Jura a few years ago, and were very disappointed. The texture was very odd. On the other hand, we really liked Bleu des Causses when we were in the Aveyron. It's been an AOP cheese since 1979.
DeleteI think I might have eaten Bleu de Gex only once, maybe 10 years ago. I just wondered if CHM knew and liked it. I don't remember if I really liked it or not. I was having lunch with a group of French people in Argenteuil, in the Paris area. As my contribution to the meal, I took a couple of Loire Valley goat cheeses that Walt and I enjoy here. Not one other person around the table was even willing to try the goat cheese! Bob, did you say you like Bresse Bleu? I really like Bleu des Causses, which is a little like Bleu d'Auvergne but with salt crystals in it, if I remember correctly.
DeleteKen, I'm not sure if I've had Bresse Bleu, although it's likely. But I've really liked Bleu des Causses.
DeleteYour photos of the fromage flyer yesterday made me go to our local cheesemonger here in Boston (US) but OMG the price difference! I bought a couple of tiny pieces. Your Kg price is much closer to our price per pound.
ReplyDeleteThat really doesn't surprise me, even though Logan isn't that far from CDG airport.
DeleteOh, my heavens, I can't believe that crazy issue with the return!
ReplyDeleteIt's out of my hands now, and I don't know what I'll do if SuperU calls and says that DPD won't accept the return because the code can't be read.
DeleteThe return fiasco is especially infuriating because you are only returning them for the benefit of the seller. You could have just disposed of them in the trash since you hadn't been billed.
ReplyDeleteIn that first photo, I like the look of the Tomme de Savoie (if I've matched the correct name/price with the right cheese).
Some more good cheeses here. Bleu d'Auvergne is my favorite blue cheese. While it's readily available in the US, I can see that this is a different producer. We'll be spending time in that area in April, and I plan to try plenty of Bleu d'Auvergne, Fourme d'Ambert, and Saint Nectaire.
ReplyDeleteAs tom Brie, while there is plenty of Brie available in the US, it's mostly the rubbery kind. Brie de Meaux is pretty much impossible to get here.
As to for Gruyere, I learned a few years ago that Swiss Gruyere was never trademarked, which is why there can be French Gruyere. Switzerland eventually adopted the name Le Gruyere for its AOP cheese.
As for the package, no good deed goes unpunished as they say. The blue cheeses appeal to me. I could eat them all day with salade frisée aux lardons.
ReplyDeleteYou were wise to leave the package at the store, it's not your problem anymore. I used to have a book with all the different French cheeses pictured and described.
ReplyDelete