Every cheese counter needs to have Roquefort, Camembert, and Comté for the shoppers who only want to buy what they know. But France sends us many lesser-known cheeses that can help distinguish a retailer's selection and engage customers on a journey of discovery. These “off the beaten path” cheeses may need to be hand sold, but that’s an opportunity to educate and inspire staff and to build a relationship with customers. When shoppers view an establishment as the go-to store for the uncommon, the retailer enhances its authority and gives them a reason to return.
Retailers should consider adding these less-familiar French gems to their case to cement their reputation as a top source for fromage.
From cow’s milk:
Abondance, from the Haute-Savoie, resembles Comté or Beaufort in style but it’s a much smaller wheel, typically about 15 pounds and only 3 to 4 inches tall. Made with raw milk and matured for at least three months (but often twice that), Abondance has an aroma of brown butter and pale caramel and an especially silky mouthfeel. It melts well so it’s a good choice for a deluxe mac-and-cheese or fondue.
In France, Cantal is an everyday cheese and, by all accounts, one of its most ancient. Made in the Auvergne for centuries, it bears a lot of resemblance to a traditional Cheddar—not surprisingly as their recipes are similar. Cantal is much larger—80 to 90 pounds—but it has the same crumbly texture and lactic, grassy flavor as a British farmhouse Cheddar. Young wheels can be mild and unremarkable, but a six- or nine-month-old Cantal will have considerable depth, with a buttermilk or crème fraîche aroma and pronounced nuttiness. Cantal, when available, is typically well priced. Why don’t more cheese counters carry it?
Gaperon, made in the Auvergne, stands out for its unusual domed shape and for being one of the few French cheeses with internal seasoning. Garlic and black pepper infuse the pale bone-colored paste, yielding a rustic, robust cheese that loves a bold red wine. Gaperon is small—just over eight ounces—with a rind that looks as if it has been dusted with powdered sugar. Matured for only a month or two, the cheese has a semisoft, somewhat crumbly interior, reflecting its relatively low fat content.
Gratte-Paille, developed about 40 years ago by Robert Rouzaire, can replace Brillat-Savarin on the cheese board. Like that popular triple-cream cheese, Gratte-Paille is cream enriched, giving it a luscious, buttery, spreadable texture. Its shape is unusual, possibly unique—a 10- to 12-ounce brick with slightly concave sides. Sparkling wine is its ideal partner.
Fans of pungent washed-rind wheels should appreciate Langres, one of the few cheeses made in the Champagne region. Unlike most cheeses, it isn’t flipped as it ages, so the top surface is sunken, like a bowl. Tradition calls for filling this natural fountain with a splash of Champagne or marc de Bourgogne. Weighing about 6-ounces and matured for less than a month, Langres has a wrinkled caramel-colored rind (it gets a color assist from annatto) and a semisoft interior. Expect aromas of mushroom, garlic and compost.
From goat’s milk:
For customers who prefer their fresh goat cheese with herbs and spices, Fleur Soleil is an appealing option. Made in the Périgord by Chèvrefeuille, this 5.5-pound wheel has a scalloped perimeter and a colorful cloak of sweet paprika, shallots, and garlic. The texture is remarkably light, almost fluffy, and the external seasonings make this beauty a head-turning sight at the cheese counter.
The renowned affineur Rodolphe Le Meunier is the genius behind Jeune Autize, a Morbier-style wheel from goat’s milk. With a spidery ripple of blue veining in the center, this semisoft 12-pound wheel develops a nutty aroma over the two to four months that it spends in Le Meunier’s care, receiving regular brine washing to develop the rind and the scent. The flavor is sweet but not cloying, the texture dense and creamy. Morbier’s appearance makes it popular at cheese counters, but Jeune Autize is tastier.
Affineur Hervé Mons gets the kudos for Ovalié Cendrée, a small, ashed oval disk from the Poitou-Charentes in western France. The producer monitors the cheese for its first 10 days, then ships it to Mons for another 10 days of expert oversight. The six- to eight-ounce disks have, when ripe, a rind alive with puffy white mold with gray and golden splotches. Inside, you’ll find a pleasant mushroom aroma and an ivory paste that may be almost molten near the rind. If properly handled in distribution, the delicate Ovalié Cendrée offers a benchmark French goat-cheese experience.
Blue cheeses from goat’s milk are surprisingly rare in American cheese shops. To fill that slot, you can’t do better than Persillé de Rambouillet, from the Ferme de la Tremblaye, the same producer that makes the estimable Brie Fermier. This farmstead blue might even seduce blue-cheese avoiders with its moist, buttery texture, toasty scent, and mellow finish. Persillé is a common French term for blue cheeses from goat’s milk, referring to the parsley-like appearance of the blue veins. Cross-merchandise with walnut bread and dessert wine.
From Fromagerie P. Jacquin, the superb Loire Valley producer, the lovely Tomme de Chèvre Grandmère Adrienne is a standout among soft-ripened goat cheeses. The one-kilo wheel has a thin ash layer under the white bloom, a seductive mushroom aroma and a creamy, not clingy, texture. Handsome appearance, profound aroma, luscious texture—this chèvre has it all.
From sheep’s milk:
Most serious cheese counters have Ossau-Iraty, the iconic Basque sheep cheese, but why not broaden your offering with Arpea? This semisoft cheese was developed by Fromagerie Agour, perhaps the region’s leading producer, so you know it will be good. A stylistic departure from the hard cheeses traditionally made in this region, Arpea represents the creative spirit that prevails at Agour. Weighing about 1-1/2 pounds and matured for one to two months, Arpea has a smooth, supple interior when young, with aromas of garlic and celery. More mature wheels are firmer and develop some nuttiness and sweetness.
Produced on the island of Corsica, a sheep cheese paradise, the aromatic Fleur du Maquis is far too rare at American cheese counters. Inspired by Brin d’Amour, a raw-milk wheel created in the 1950s, Fleur du Maquis is its pasteurized-milk twin. We no longer see Brin d’Amour in the U.S. (aged less than 60 days, it’s not legal for sale), but Fleur du Maquis is a more than adequate replacement, with a similar herb- and spice-coated rind and tender interior. Ottavi, the producer, coats the wheels with dried thyme, rosemary, savory, pink peppercorns and perhaps some other secret seasonings to impart the scent of a scrubby Corsican hillside (the maquis). The interior should be moist and semisoft and literally melt on your tongue.
From mixed milk:
Another gem from the cellars of Rodolphe Le Meunier, Tomme Adarré is an Ossau-Iraty lookalike but from a blend of goat’s and sheep’s milk. Made in the Pyrenees, this gorgeous seven-month-old wheel has a crusty, rustic natural rind and a firm yet creamy interior with aromas of roasted walnuts and goat caramel. Introduced to the U.S. five years ago, it has quickly become a cheesemonger favorite.
Janet Fletcher is the writer of email newsletter “Plant Cheese” and the author of Cheese & Wine and Cheese & Beer.
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Image: Janet Fletcher/Planet Cheese