French cheese: With over 400 French cheeses available in a delicious range of flavours ranging from the mild to very hard, there's an almost endless variety of French cheese

The origins of French cheese

Thousand of cows, sheeps and goats have been milked since some people decided to curdle milk. The French people have always regarded their cheese as essential element of life, whether they buy it at a farms or in grocery store. But on deciding which type of French cheese to buy? But what does the word cheese mean? It is a dairy product which can be fermented or not fermented, matured or not matured food, can be more or less skimmed, or cream or dasher. It can be used as such or coagulated, before it is drained or just partly drained or not at all. It should keep at least 23% of dry matter. The kind of milk used has to be labeled when it is not cow milk.

The 400 sorts of French cheese recorded can be made with milk or with pasteurised milk. The milk label means that the milk was not heated over 37 degrees Celcius. When heated at this degree It keeps all its properties, and it loses certain pathogenic baceria which can be dangerous for human digestive system.

From the official point of view the real farm French cheese is a hand made with the milk of a single drove, each day. Small scale production is as important nowadays as it used to be and it is proved by the high price of cheese products !

The milk used to make pasteurised cheese is heated up to 72 degrees Celcius for about 20 to 30 seconds each time and this process annihilates any pathogenic germ. Afterwards the milk is seeded again with lactic bacteria in order to restore the flora indispensable for maturing the paste. The French consider it a a crime to take the main bacteria out of milk and to replace them by others, which are selected and standardised in laboratories.

Besides the original cheese that can be called as "cheese" mass-produced one is not cheese actually although it ranks first in house-hold consumption. on one hand, you find mass production and low costs, and on the other small scale production and prices differ mainly. Similar sorts of cheese can be more or less expensive according to their reputation and to the price of milk. There is a segmentation as concerns brands : Lanquedoc, Lepetit, Gillot, Cooperative d'Isigny are made with milk. Their prices are more expensive, and they are chosen by 15% of consumers. The pasteurised camemberts, branded President, Bridel or Coeur de Lion are the market core, with a 85% of share; They are sold under the prices of cheese made with milk; The reason for this difference is ladle moulding. For Lanquedoc camembert, the mould is filled with five layers of curdled milk, which are spaced 40mm, so as to allow a slow draining and a different taste. So it takes longer to produce.

The difference between cheese made with pasteurised milk or with milk is a bit ambiguous. Be aware when choosing! If you read Normandy camembert on the label, it means that it is a ladle-moulded camembert made with milk. the origin is guaranteed even if for 15 years or so, most of the cows in Normandy are of Dutch origin. Camemberts "made in Normandy" are pasteurised mainly: for cheese lovers, this is not full flavoured cheese. The ordinary label "Camembert" can be used for cheese made in any French region,as well as in any other country. The major difference is its low price

So how can you differentiate a pasteurised and a milk camembert? Non-pasteurised cheese has an uneven rind of various colours, whereas it is even and white when cheese is pasteurised : the ripening process is stopped then. The sides of a ripen cheese are soft to the touch and it goes on ripening stores. Cheese lovers enjoy milk cheese of guarented origin. But 85% consumers prefer milder pastes, enjoyed by everyone in the family.

Where to buy French cheese?

Let's consider supermarkets first. They are a load of rubbish : suppliers have to pay to get a good place at the self-service supermarket; so they overvalue their products so as to recoup the expenses.

Secondly, traditional shops ? A professional cheesmonger, thanks to his know-how and to his presence in the shop, can sell any fresh product, while standing apart from mass distribution systems. He offers his clients as many farm products as possible, plus Dutch cheese, such as old Gouda. They buy small quantities of cheese, in order to keep it splendid.And the prices are not higher than anywhere else.

Last but not least, cheese farms. They are the best choise. But for health-related motives, some make a stand against farm cheese. But nobody should fear! Ministries would never allow the sale of any dubious cheese. In farms as well as in factories, hygiene is irreprochable. There are veterinarian inspections. The ticketing of cheese is also submitted to strict rules, such as sales designation, animal species, minimal fats content, manufacturing place and additives.

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