Photo du Jour - Fire

Formidable clouds of smoke from an out of control fire Thursday evening, about 25 miles from the village. After dark we could see the flames.
At the time it looked a heck of a lot closer than 25 miles!

Officials say that 400 firefighters, 36 fire engines and nine water-carrying airplanes are trying to put out the flames which spread across an uninhabited and uncultivated area in mountains 15 kilometres from the southern city of Narbonne.

They say that they have contained the smaller blaze, which has destroyed about 150 hectares of brush, but that the larger has spread to an area which is inaccessible by land.

That fire, which was the first to start, had already destroyed 450 hectares of vegetation by 5.30 pm on Thursday.

No injuries or serious damage to crops or premises are reported but firefighters have had to protect some buildings. The lightly-inhabited area is in a natural park in the southern Corbières region near the Mediterranean coast.

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La Fête du Fromage - Camembert Brebis

"A camembert not made out of raw milk is like making love without sex."

Hear! Hear!
I read this line in an article about Camembert just this morning!

While this week's cheese is not an AOC Camembert from Normandy, it is a Camembert fermier, more specifically, a Camembert Brebis from the Corbières.
This is the third cheese I've tasted from the dynamic duo, Chantal and Jean-Gabriel Donnet, the owners of the sole sheep farm in the Corbières. In January we tasted their luscious Brebis des Corbières and in early April we tasted their elegant Tomette des Corbières.

Mme. Donnet was at the market in Carcassonne last week, so I had the honor of meeting and chatting with the friendly Fromagère, in addition to tasting several more of her cheeses.
She was very kind, patient with my questions, and when I told her about my Fête du Fromage project, she seemed pleased that she'd been included.


Mme. Chantal Donnet slicing a piece of Tomme de Brebis for me to taste



Now, on to the cheese....



Another sublime discovery! The unpasteurized Camembert Brebis had a well balanced, earthy and mushroomy, mildly strong flavor that was both tangy and slightly salty. The aroma was sweet, grassy and soft and the texture was pure Camembert-creamy.

It was the best Camembert we've tasted in a long time. (and after the recently tasted, locally made Camembert Fermier, I never expected to find myself saying that)

Local, Minervois red wine was a perfect match as would wine from the Corbières.


The article also states that a recent census discovered that there are more than 1000 cheeses being produced in France. If that is true, I've got my work cut out for me! Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Tomette des Corbières

Monday evening:
Sitting here with a generous sliver of Tomette des Corbières and a glass of local red wine, enjoying a tranquil evening together.

Life doesn't get much better.



France is referred to as l'hexagone - the hexagon, because it is six sided, and this hexagon shaped Tomette des Corbières is a fantastic representative of its country.
However, the cheese isn't named for the shape of France, rather for tomettes, the rustic, orange-brown tiles that are so commonly found in the area.



The Tomette des Corbières is an unpasteurized sheep's milk cheese produced in the picturesque and rugged Corbières region that is known for its wine, honey and goat cheese. It comes from the sole sheep farm in the area, owned by Chantal and Jean-Gabriel Donnet, who have a small herd of 150 ewes.
During its approximately 2-3 months of aging, each cheese is washed twice a week with salt water and then sprayed with Grenache, a local, amber-colored, fortified wine that has a 16% alcohol content. This process allows the cheese to develop a mild, honeyed flavor.

It is a dense cheese, with a substantial, toothsome texture and a nutty tasting rind. My first taste had me thinking hazelnuts and honey with gentle hints of mushroom.
I enjoyed its refined, sweet and soft flavors. Not too strong and not too mild, but a very elegant cheese. I was very happy to finally taste this one and I'll be equally happy to have it again in the future!



You can find Tomette des Corbières in many cheese shops around the world: in Paris, New York, Tokyo and in California.
If you can get a hold of some, you must try it! Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Brebis Frais and le Bouchon de Chèvre

We tasted a soft, earthy Fromage de Brebis Frais and a deceptively strong Bouchon de Chèvre this week.


The Brebis Frais comes from a sheep farm in the Corbières whose cheese we've tasted before. In January we tried their sublime Brebis des Corbières, so I was excited to try another cheese from their farm.
This cheese was frais, meaning fresh, thus the flavor was mild. At first bite it was very soft, then as the flavor developed it became tangy and sweet. We loved it! It was a dewy, dense little disk that had a grassy, fresh aroma.
An all around very friendly cheese.

Wine from the same area, the Corbières, would pair well with this cheese.



This flavorful little goat cheese is named for the object it resembles, a wine cork - a bouchon. (which can also mean a cap, a plug or a traffic jam - go figure)
Le Bouchon de Chèvre was commonly referred to as le Bouchon de Sancerre, until it became clear that people were confusing it with an actual Sancerre wine cork, so the cheese's name was changed to le Bouchon de Chèvre. It hails from the region around the town of Sancerre, in the gorgeous Loire Valley.

To achieve its small cylindrical shape, the curds are wrapped in linen and placed into little cork shaped molds to age for at least seven days. It had a smooth texture that was oozing a bit around a blooming, white crust and had a heady aroma. It made for a very smelly kitchen! The flavor was difficult to describe: hints of sourness that became spicy on the tongue and an undertone of wine or marc. This was an excellent cheese!

Avoid red wine, instead have a glass of Sancerre wine with le Bouchon.

blooming exterior

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La Fête du Fromage - From the Minervois and the Corbières

La Fête is a day late...yesterday our friend had a milestone birthday and her four hour lunch turned into an afternoon party. We didn't get home until after 10 p.m.!


Some of our local cheeses are incredible! The flavor of the cheese that comes from small producers surpasses anything you'll ever find at a grocery store, even if it is lait cru and artisanal. There is just something about earthy, farm produced, raw milk cheese that makes all the difference!

The two cheeses we tasted this week were both produced on small farms in the area; Brebis des Corbières and Tomme de Maquis.

This gorgeous, oozing wedge is the Brebis des Corbières, made in the style of Camembert from unpasteurized sheep's milk. The producers, Chantal and Jean-Gabriel Donnet, left their advertising jobs in Montpellier about twenty years ago to make cheese in the rugged, remote and beautiful Corbières. They currently have a herd of about 150 sheep and they produce the famous Tommette des Corbières, a hexagonal cheese with a Grenache (a local, fortified wine) washed rind. I haven't tried it yet, but it is on my list!
The Brebis des Corbières was perfectly ripe and was both creamy and tangy. The flavor was well rounded, smooth and meaty and it had a very pronounced, barnyard aroma. This cheese was pure heaven and we couldn't have been happier as we savored it slowly with a baguette and a glass of red wine from the area.

So, there we were, happily nibbling away on the Brebis des Corbières, thinking it was pretty much the best cheese ever, when we tasted the Tomme de Maquis.
 I had absolutely no expectations for this cheese. It is produced on a small farm about five miles from our house, had a mild aroma, a firm, dense texture and a snowy white interior. It looked nice enough.
But oh! It. Was. Wonderful!
The Tomme de Maquis is made from a combination of unpasteurized sheep and cow's milk and is made on the Cooperative Cravirola, near Minerve. It was creamy, mildly salty and had a delightful tang to its flavor. I poured a Minervois white wine from our local co-op, les Trois Blasons and we sat in amazement that such incredible cheese and wine is produced within a few miles of our home.

It was a fantastic Fête du Fromage!

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La Fête du Fromage

Finding cheese is becoming more difficult. Yes, France has somewhere around 350 cheeses, but I'm discovering that many of them aren't available outside of the region where they're produced.

At les Halles on Saturday I took my list to la fromagerie where I struggled to find some cheese I hadn't already tasted. I think the guy behind the counter thought I was a bit strange...he kept suggesting cheeses and I kept saying "no, I've already tried that.'' He finally asked what the deal was, so I told him about La Fête du Fromage. He chuckled a bit and asked for the address of Chez Loulou so he could have a look.

I ended up purchasing two fromages de chèvres, Laurentine and Rondin d'Alvignac, and one fromage de vache, Vache Fermier des Corbières.


The oval shaped Laurentine (it's a bit mangled from carrying it around all morning) is a raw, artisanal, goat's milk cheese that comes from the Midi-Pyrénées region. The little green leaves on the top are bay leaves, which infuse the cheese with a lovely, woodsy flavor. It was mild, creamy and slightly sweet, and oozing in the center. I love that! The Laurentine would be fantastic drizzled with some acacia honey.

The other chèvre, le Rondin d'Alvignac, is also a raw, artisanal cheese produced in the Midi-Pyrénées region. It had a hint of spice that lingered on the tongue and the texture was crumbly in the center. Another delicious chèvre that I would happily eat again. A dry white wine pairs well with either of these fromages de chèvres.

The Vache Fermier des Corbières is a locally made cheese from a small producer in the Corbières mountains. It was mild, creamy and smooth, with mushroom and earthy flavors. All around, a really nice cheese! I loved it with a glass of Corbières red wine. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Bethmale and Pélardon des Corbières

More fantastic cheese this week! These were two that we really loved, Bethmale and Pélardon des Corbières.

Bethmale (BETT-malle) is well loved, traditional, cow's milk cheese from the valley of Bethmale, in the Midi-Pyrénées region of southwestern France. Legend says that this very mild cheese became a favorite of King Louis VI after he passed through the region in the 12th Century.
 The interior is a pale yellow color and the texture is semi-smooth, firm and full of tiny holes. Bethmale has a nutty and earthy aroma and a mellow, buttery and mushroomy flavor. I can't imagine anyone not liking this cheese. Its tempered flavor is very appealing.
 A robust red wine, such as a Minervois, would be perfect to drink with this cheese.

Locally made Pélardon des Corbières is a fermier, unpasteurized goat's milk cheese made near the stunning village of Lagrasse in the Corbières area of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France.
 It is an AOC cheese made using traditional methods; after each milking the milk is left to curdle, then it is shaped by hand into little disks and left to mature for at least 11 days.
It had traces of an edible blue mold on its rind and a slightly acidic, salty and nutty flavor. Its soft and supple texture melted in our mouths. Delicious!
Drink some Corbières or Minervois red alongside.

There is also a Pélardon des Cevennes, which is produced in the Cevennes region, north of Montpellier.


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La Fête du Fromage-Charolais and Chèvre Bleu

Well, it looks like I accidentally repeated a cheese this week. I picked up a couple in Béziers last Friday without consulting my list, et voilà, I purchased more Bleu de Chèvre, thinking that I had tried a Bleu de Brebis before. It looked completely different than the Bleu de Chèvre I bought last month and even had a slightly different name, Chèvre Bleu.

So, we got to taste this one again. Not such a terrible thing....

I also picked up a little drum of Charolais.

This Chèvre Bleu, the cheese in front, is made locally, in the Corbières. It is covered in ash and matured to perfection.This chèvre has a lovely, tangy taste mixed with the flavor of aged goat's cheese that I find very desirable.
A glass of Corbières red was the perfect pairing.



The tall, cylindrical Charolais comes from the granite plains of the Charolais region of Burgundy. It is a férmier cheese, traditionally made from two parts unpasteurized goat's milk and one part unpasteurized cow's milk.
Charolais is discreetly salty and slightly sweet, and offers a nice, long finish. Its texture is chalky, dense and rather dry. I loved the way its flavor opened up in my mouth and thought it was excellent.
Enjoy a glass of Beaujolais with this cheese.


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