La Fête du Fromage - Le Garriou

It looks like a little Crottin de Chavignol and it tastes like a little bit of heaven.

Le Garriou just may be the perfect goat cheese.



It is lush, creamy and melting just under that wrinkly, edible rind. It is chalky and ultra rich in the middle. Its aroma is reminiscent of straw and barnyards.
The "goatiness" is pronounced, but not too overwhelming, as it is rounded out by the other flavors that include a zesty, citrus tang and a refined earthiness.
Un vrai fromage de chèvre!

Le Garriou is an artisan cheese produced on a small farm in the Lot département. It is made with unpasteurized goat's milk and is a heady 45% butterfat.

Savored slowly, with a bit of baguette and a glass of Côtes du Rhône, and life just doesn't get much better! Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - La Tomme Céronnée

France's Savoie region is famous for its rugged snow-capped mountains, clear lakes and gorgeous green valleys. It is a mecca for skiers, campers and hikers.

Tomme Céronnée is also a mecca. For cheese mites.
If you look very closely you could see the little creatures frolicking amongst the hills and valleys that they have created while munching away on its rind.


Tomme Céronnée is produced in the mountains of the Savoie from unpasteurized cow's milk, then aged for 3 months. The cheese is supple, ivory colored and dotted with small holes, and the mites create a powdery, holey rind like Mimolette's.
The slightly salty, milky and hazelnut flavors combined beautifully with the meaty, chewy texture. It was a very enjoyable tasting!

So if the thought of tiny insects crawling around on your food doesn't bother you, and it shouldn't because you cut the hard rind off anyway, this cheese will definitely win you over.


Enjoy with a glass of red Côtes du Rhône or white from the Savoie region.


Since it is obvious that I can't get my you-know-what together and get any writing done on Tuesdays, la Fête du Fromage is officially moving to Wednesdays.

Tuesday is market day in Olonzac, it's the day that I get most of my errands run and we often have friends around Tuesday evening for dinner. Basically, I run out of time for cheese. Of course, one could argue that I could be more organized and have the post written before Tuesday, but I just don't see that happening.

So, Wednesdays it is! Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Bleu de Chèvre, Tomme Corse and Saint-Marcellin

Bleu de Chèvre, Tomme Corse and Saint-Marcellin are the three cheeses I picked for this week's Fête du Fromage.

The Bleu de Chèvre was by far our favorite of the three. It was fruity and sweet and crumbly and oh so delicious! I thought that Bleu de Basque was my favorite bleu, but the Bleu de Chèvre now has that honor. It is made from unpasteurized goat's milk and comes from the Auvergne region of central France. Enjoy with a glass of Côtes du Rhône.

Corsica produces some amazing cheeses, none of which we'd had the chance to taste until I brought home the Tomme Corse. The word "Tomme" appears often when you're looking at cheese. The basic definition: a round, rustic cheese that is produced in the mountains. The flavor was very mild and slightly salty with an underlying sharpness.
We thought this sheep's milk cheese was just ok, it certainly didn't leave us clamoring for more. Drink some Corsican rosé alongside.



The little piece of Saint-Marcellin we tasted was very, very young. It was soft and runny with a mildly acidic, grassy and somewhat fruity flavor that at first I wasn't very excited about. It seemed unrefined and immature. But I gave it another try the next day and really enjoyed it the second time around. Maybe my palate was off or something.
I'll keep my eyes peeled for an aged piece to try next time.

Saint-Marcellin is a close cousin of one of my favorite's, Banon , and is made in the Dauphiné region, north of Provence, from unpasteurized cow's milk. There is mention of its production since the 15th Century when the soon to be crowned King Louis XI had an accident while hunting and shared a meal with his rescuers. They introduced him to Saint-Marcellin and he in turn introduced it to the cheese makers in Paris. The result; a cheese that has been enjoyed by French ''society" for over 500 years.
 Have a glass of Côtes du Rhône or Châteauneuf-du-Pape with this one.


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La Fête du Fromage - Bleu de Gex, Pont-l'Evêque and Selles-sur-Cher

Three cow's milk cheeses from all around the north of France were selected for this week's Fête du Fromage.

Bleu de Gex, Pont-l'Evêque and Selles-sur-Cher

Bleu de Gex is one of the few remaining unpasteurized cow's milk blue cheeses left in the world.
Made near the Swiss border, in the mountains of the Haut-Jura, this blue is mildly salty and mushroomy with superb blue veining in a very pale yellow interior. It was granted AOC status in 1977.
This cheese would be delicious served with some dried figs or sliced pears and a good wine pairing would be reds from Burgundy or Côtes du Rhône.



The blue-grey, knobby, gnarly rind and snowy white interior gives Selles sur Cher a very striking appearance. It has a fine textured, velvety interior with a nutty and slightly salty flavor with a hint of sweetness. It is made with unpasteurized goat's milk and the edible, blue-grey rind is the result of the cheese being covered in ash to promote flavor and encourage ripening. Granted AOC in 1975 and named for the town of Selles sur Cher in the Berry region of northern France, this was one of my all time favorites!
Pair with a dry white wine or a light, fruity red.

The little, square shaped Pont-l'Evêque is a well known and popular cheese from Normandy. It has a strong, pungent odor that is misleading as the flavor is quite mild and buttery with hints of hazelnut. Legend says this delightful cheese was first made in a Norman abbey in the 12th Century. Made from unpasteurized cow's milk, le Pont-l'Evêque was granted AOC status in 1972.
Pair with a Pinot Noir, Gigondas or hard apple cider.

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Tuesday's Fête du Fromage - Bleu d'Auvergne and Saint-Félicien

Bleu d'Auvergne and Saint-Félicien

Saint-Félicien is a luscious, creamy cow's milk cheese with a high fat content (60%), made in the Rhône-Alpes region.
I adore this cheese! The texture is very soft and the flavor is mildly sour and tangy. I think Saint-Félicien is perfect in the morning, spread on toast and drizzled with honey.

Buttery, moist and smoky tasting, Bleu d'Auvergne is named for its place of origin, the volcanic, remote Auvergne region of south-central France. It was discovered in 1850 by a farmer and was granted AOC status in 1975.
Try it with a sweet white wine and dried figs or with gutsy reds such as Côtes du Rhône or Cahors.


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