La Fête du Fromage - Cathare

The Occitan Cross, the omnipresent symbol of the Languedoc, is displayed on everything from the regional flag, street signs, T-shirts and sweatshirts, key chains, bumper stickers, graffiti and even cheese. Yes, cheese.

Voilà Cathare.


This distinctive fromage de chèvre fermier was created in 1995 at La Ferme de Cabriole in the Lauragais. It is home to about 120 Saanen goats which graze in the pastures surrounding the farm for 8-10 months of the year and produce a whopping 2½-5 liters of milk a day, per goat.

Underneath the layer of ash lies a luscious, unpasteurized cheese with a creamy, velvety smooth, almost liquid texture that simply melts in your mouth. Cathare is sold after 2 weeks of affinage, resulting in a flavor that is mild, slightly buttery and salty, with soft hints of chèvre. As it ages, the goat flavor becomes more pronounced and the texture more firm and dry.

This is a truly delightful cheese and I can't recommend it more highly!

A dry white wine would be a good match. Pin It

Caipirinha + Champagne = Mal de Tête

Every couple of months or so my girlfriends and I get together for an evening of girl talk and a catch up on each others lives. Sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes we dance, always we discuss juicy topics and share delicious food and drink.

At our last gathering it was my night off of work and I wasn't driving. I had one little, teensy-weensy caipirinha and a couple glasses (well, maybe three) of Champagne. The next morning...ouch.
A headache of epic proportions.


So the next time you're offered caipirinhas and Champagne, stick with one or the other.
Don't say I didn't warn you. Pin It

Village Blues

The powder blue over dark purple grapes. The startling, vibrant sky that can range from steel to cobalt to azure. The shutters painted everything from fresh cornflower to faded sapphire to pale periwinkle.

Camille of Croque-Camille tagged me a few weeks ago and invited me to participate in this game: find seven blue objects in your house and do a little show and tell.
Lucky for me, Camille opened up the game to creative interpretation, so I took it outside.

Here are my Village Blues.















The seven others I would like to tag are: Pumpkin, Veronica, Anne, Caron, Half Baked, Walt and Ken. The seven blue items can be from your house, your kitchen, your town, your pantry, your shoe closet, whatever. Have fun with it! Pin It

Photo du Jour - Shades of Green

Vivid green vines covering the front of our house and slowly creeping across the shutters. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Le Rogeret

It's funny, but I'm always a bit disappointed when I find out that a cheese is pasteurized. Raw cheese just appeals to me. It is more real, has more attitude.

On my last visit to the cheese counter in les Halles I picked up several delicious new cheeses, all of which were unpasteurized, with this one exception. Thankfully Monsieur le Fromager was so enthusiastic about Rogeret that I decided to trust him.

In the future I vow to be more open minded about pasteurized French cheese!


Le Rogeret is made from a blend of pasteurized* goat and cow's milk in the stunning Ardèche region of southeastern France. It is matured for about two weeks on straw mats, giving the exterior a striated texture, similar to Saint-Félicien.

It is a very agreeable, likable cheese that is deliciously soft and creamy. The flavor is rich with hazelnuts and earthy mushrooms, and there is a slight tangy bitterness on the finish. We both loved it!

A glass of Beaujolais would pair perfectly with le Rogeret.



*There is a fermier, unpasteurized version of le Rogeret called Rogeret de Lamastre that I am now eager to try. Pin It

Photo du Jour - République Française

Carving above the fountain at the edge of the village. Pin It

Autumn's Arrival

The intense, blinding heat of summer is over. My mental cobwebs have cleared.
I feel inspired again.

The vendange is in full swing and that means the vineyard leaves are slowly turning shades of orange, crimson, yellow.
I am so ready for autumn to arrive.

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Photo du Jour - Figs, Ham, Cheese, Honey

A succulent, simple dish using the bounty of Languedoc figs - thin slices of Serrano ham, fresh mozzarella and ripe figs, drizzled all over with honey. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Vendanges

Our neighbors from Domaine Coudoulet bringing the grapes in from the fields. Pin It

Favorite Photos of Paris

If you haven't already seen it, check out some of my favorite photos of Paris in my guest post on Why Go Paris.

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La Fête du Fromage - September Round Up

Ok, my "sort of" vacation is over. On to the cheese!

September's La Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting Event round-up offers an intriguing mix of cheeses from around the world. Thanks to all who participated!


The first entry has such a strong aroma that it is sold in small plastic containers to keep the olfactory offense at a minimum. Ladybird, who lives in Belgium and writes Wishing I were in France, recently tasted Herve, a notoriously stinky Belgian cheese. It is often compared to Munster or Maroilles, and despite the overpowering aroma, its flavor is quite soft. I must look out for this one!

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Camille, of the delicious blog, Croque-Camille, went on a Corsican cheese hunt in Paris and discovered these two ewe's milk cheeses, Tomme Corse and A Filetta. The Tomme Corse has "an earthy, mushroomy, savory richness" underneath its mite nibbled crust, and A Filetta was quite smelly and pungent tasting.
The last time I had Tomme Corse was more than two years ago. Now I'm inspired to buy another wedge.

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Robusto. What a fantastic name! Michelle in Portland recently discovered La Fête du Fromage and happily tasted and wrote about one of her favorite cheeses on her blog, Je Mange la Ville. Her description of Robusto made me laugh out loud..."Kind of like if Gouda and Parmesan had a tasty, delicious love child."

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A gorgeous slab of rich and buttery Fontina is Nathalie's entry to la Fête. I always count on her to share scrumptious looking Italian cheeses with us on her blog, Spaced Out Ramblings. Fontina is made in the Val d'Aosta from cow's milk and is perfect for melting on pizza or piadine, a type of flat bread from Emilia-Romagna. She describes its flavor as "mild, slightly nutty and you can still feel the grass in the aftertaste." I agree that Fontina is fantastic!

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Rachel of The Crispy Cook took an idyllic looking Cheese Tour around Washington County, NY where she was able to taste the creations of several small dairy farms. Samples included feta, herb and peppered chèvres, Caerphilly Cheese, Pumpkin Spice Quark, fresh mozzarella and High Rock Cheese, which was described as a Gruyère-like cheese made from goat's milk.
It is encouraging to see small cheese producers being supported by the public. Thanks for sharing the tour with us Rachel!

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My entry is a cheese that I tasted last summer, Le Roves des Garrigues. This is a tasty little goat's cheese with lots of herb, lemon and pepper flavors that is produced here in the Languedoc-Roussillon. I believe it is available in the States if anyone across the pond would like to give it a try. I highly recommend it!

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Thank you again everyone!
Can't wait to see what you share with us in October for the 10th Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting Event.
If you would like to join in, please have your entries to me by October 13. The entire round-up will be posted on October 15.

Tell us why you chose this particular cheese. Tell us how it tasted. Tell us about its texture and aroma. Did you eat it on its own? Or with something? Did you drink anything special with your cheese? Would you recommend it or not? Is there something unusual or interesting about it?

• Photos are wonderful, but not necessary
• Entries must contain the words La Fête du Fromage and contain a link to Chez Loulou
• Posts should be written specifically for La Fête du Fromage and not entered in any other food blog event
• Please send the link to your post to louloufrance (at) gmail (dot) com with the words Fête du Fromage in the subject line

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Les Vacances (sort of)

Things are calming down a bit now that August has come to a close.

As the dreaded canicule fades from our memories and most of France is heading back to work and to school this week, those of us out here in the boonies get a bit of normalcy back in our lives. The foreign plates on the roads have been replaced by tractors coming and going from the vineyards, parking in the village is no longer an issue and navigating the morning markets is much easier.

What a difference from one month ago!


The next couple of weeks will be quiet around here while I clean out the clutter and cobwebs that have collected in both my brain and in our house. I also need to catch up on a few little projects that I was too busy to contend with in August.
I'll continue to be on Twitter and Facebook, and post photos to my Flickr page during my "vacances."


I'll be back on September 15 for the 9th Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting Event.
If you would like to join in, please have your entries to me by September 13. The entire round-up will be posted on September 15.


Tell us why you chose this particular cheese. Tell us how it tasted. Tell us about its texture and aroma. Did you eat it on its own? Or with something? Did you drink anything special with your cheese? Would you recommend it or not? Is there something unusual or interesting about it?

• Photos are wonderful, but not necessary
• Entries must contain the words La Fête du Fromage and contain a link to Chez Loulou
• Posts should be written specifically for La Fête du Fromage and not entered in any other food blog event
• Please send the link to your post to louloufrance (at) gmail (dot) com with the words Fête du Fromage in the subject line

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