January 20, 2009

La Fête du Fromage - Le Pavin d'Auvergne

Le Pavin d'Auvergne's bright, tangerine colored exterior literally glowed amongst the neighboring pale, white and beige cheeses at the Fromagerie.
It was impossible to resist.

This is another spectacular, washed rind, unpasteurized cow's milk cheese produced in the Auvergne, home to some of France's most famous fromages: Cantal, Bleu d'Auvergne, Gaperon, Saint-Nectaire and Fourme d'Ambert are a few examples.


It is named after lac Pavin, a lake that was formed about 6000 years ago in the crater of an extinct volcano in the Puy-de-Dôme département. The lake is known for being the deepest in the Auvergne and is considered to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the region.

Le Pavin d'Auvergne is a strong cheese. Its intoxicating flavor is rich with the taste of mushrooms and walnuts. The texture is dense and chewy, and very smooth and supple. It has a memorable, pleasant mouthfeel.
This one comes highly recommended!

Red wines from Bordeaux such as Côtes-de-Blaye or Côtes-de-Bourg pair well with le Pavin. Pin It

7 comments:

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

Is that a new header??? Love it :-)

Jennifer said...

Yes, it is. It was the cheese cart at the restaurant where we celebrated our anniversary last month.
Glad you like it!

spacedlaw said...

I remember the waters of Lac Pavin, so cold in the middle of a blistering August... And feeling so nasty towards the guy who had brought me in this wonderful region because he was falling a raw diet and would not touch any of the fine cheeses or charcuteries of the region! With retrospect, it's probably a miracle that I did not drown him in the lake.

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Thanks for showing me another Auvergnat cheese to seek out!

Jennifer said...

spacedlaw
I think it is a miracle that you didn't drown him! How terrible to be in the Auvergne with someone like that.
Is the lake as beautiful as it looks in the photographs?

croquecamille
This is a good one! I tasted it again from the cheese cart (in the header photo) when we went out on our anniversary and it was as wonderful as I remembered.

spacedlaw said...

It is beautiful indeed. (or it was twenty odd years ago).

Jennifer said...

spacedlaw
I'll have to go explore that region one day. Looks beautiful and they make some wonderful cheese!