"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, qu'ils mangent …du Fromage
/Hello Fellow Cheese Enthusiasts!
The month of July is a time to celebrate!
Canada celebrates Canada Day (July 1st – A day of Unity that brought the three separate colonies of the United Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a single Dominion); Independence Day (July 4th – Commemorating a “Declaration of Independence” for the thirteen colonies from King George III and to show their unity, freedom, and independence from British rule; and Bastille Day (July 14th – Commemorates the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, as well as the unity of the French people at the Fête de la Fédération on 14 July 1790).
With Bastille Day in mind, I wanted to have fun with the title and celebrate with French Cheese. The quote: "S'ils n'ont pas de pain, qu'ils mangent …du Fromage” means, “If they don't have bread, let them eat…cheese”. Of course, no one ever said that, but it was rumored that Marie Antoinette said the famous phrase: “Let them eat Cake”…but this is the Cheese Traveler blog, so we are going to celebrate with cheese.
Several weeks ago, I was fortune enough to travel to New York City. While I was back there, I was able to attend the Fancy Food Show, as well as attend the grand opening of the French Cheese Board(which can be found at 56 Spring Street). This night was filled with celebrations – An amazing cheese display built by Francois Robin, who has been awarded the title of M.O.F. Cheesemonger(meaning Meilleur Ouvrier de France, which is a master of your craft); the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers (The International Cheese Guilde) had an induction ceremony; and a very special treat – A cheese and liqueur pairing by Cyrille and Christelle Lorho – The dynamic duo that own Maison Lorho is Strasbourg, France. They have both been awarded the title of M.O.F. Cheesemongers and may be the only husband/wife team to do so.
Photo courtesy of Maison Lorho
I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to try all of their pairings.
Their pairings took some classic French cheeses and paired them with some surprising results.
While I couldn’t find the exact brands of liqueur that they used, I was very happy with the ones that I was able to find.
First up, they paired Société Roquefort with “Golden Eight”, a pear liqueur.
The “bite” of the Roquefort was balanced by the sweetness of the liqueur, the creaminess of the cheese was equaled to the creaminess of the liqueur.
I could not find “Golden Eight”, but I was able to find Crème de Poire by Merlet & Fils 1850 of France, which has an 18% alcohol by volume. I served this with Bosc pears – A perfect “pear-ing”…WOW!
I could have just been satisfied with that simple pairing, but this next one I would have never, ever thought of…
Classic French goat cheese has always been associated with the Loire valley of France…So when I saw that Cyrille and Christelle were pairing an aged goat cheese with a “Crème de Gingembre”, I was pleasantly surprised!
Again, I couldn’t find the exact brand of liqueur they used, so here is what I paired:
While traditional Chabichou du Poitou is a traditional semi-soft, unpasteurized, natural-rind French goat cheese with a firm and creamy texture, I was only able to find one made from pasteurized goat’s milk. Chabichou is formed in a cylindrical shape which is called a "bonde", which is typically aged for 10 to 20 days.
The Chabichou that I found was produced and imported from Fromi. It has a beautiful, gnarled rind that looked like coral…A rind treatment by adding Geotrichum candidum to give it this unique look.
I paired this with Domaine de Canton, a French Ginger Liqueur which has an 28% alcohol by volume.
The acidity (the Citrus-like/Tartness that makes your mouth pucker in goat cheeses) and animal (the barnyard-y scent found in goat cheeses) aroma was balanced and perfectly paired with the spicy sweetness of the liqueur. The liqueur which is made from tender baby ginger, Tahitian vanilla beans and Provencal honey, made this the perfect choice.
I guess that you could say that both of these pairings bring a little, much needed “Unity” into our lives.
Time to celebrate!
Until next time….
Trevor,
your Cheese Traveler
