Weekend Goings On - Most Importantly, What's for Lunch

This morning I'm getting all sorts of little, last minute things done around the house before I run to la boulangerie and begin making lunch. We've got three family members arriving from America around two o'clock this afternoon, so we thought we'd have a glass of wine and lunch waiting for them.

On the menu today:
Lucques olive tapenade
An updated Coq au Vin that I make with some sparkling Saumur, which I started cooking with last spring. It makes a lovely sauce! I need to write the recipe down and share it.
Cheese course consisting of Maroilles, Cantal Entre-Deux and Chabichou de Poitou.
Tarte Tatin

Tomorrow, I'll let someone else be the chef! Pin It

I've Waited For This Cheese

Several years ago we went out with Jean-Pierre and Agnès to a lovely little place near Béziers for dinner. After our main course a gorgeous and very heavily laden cheese cart was rolled over to our table and since we didn't know many cheeses at the time and chose most of them based on looks, I asked for a piece of a very interesting looking, bright orange, conical shaped one but was promptly told "non, madame, il est trop fort, choisissez un autre."*
I insisted that I liked strong cheese, but to no avail. I looked and Jean-Pierre and Agnès for help but they too shook their heads and said, "no, choose another."
So I did.
Reluctantly.
We were just getting to know Jean-Pierre and Agnès so I didn't want to cause a scene by fighting with the server and grabbing my own piece off the cart or anything.

But let me tell you, that vividly colored cheese and being denied the right to taste it left an impression. I've looked for that cheese ever since, not knowing it's name didn't help me much, but I figured I would recognize it when I came across it.
We ate dinner at their house last night and Jean-Pierre presented me with "the denied cheese." Recently the four of us had laughed about that dinner and that cheese and he went out and found some for me!


It is called Boulette d'Avesnes. With it we tasted a nice little Brillat Savarin.

Boulette d'Avesnes is smelly, pungent, fiery and very unique. It is made from Maroilles curd which is flavored with tarragon, cloves, parsley and pepper, then it's rind is washed in beer.  I found it acrid and pretty awful, actually. The little cones are shaped by hand then sprinkled with annatto or paprika, giving it the bright orange appearance.  This cheese is not for the faint of heart!
If you dare to taste it, pair with a full-bodied red such as Côte de Nuits, Côtes du Rhône or a Chateauneuf du Pape.

Brillat Savarin was named for the famous 18th Century French gourmand, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, in 1930 by it's creator, Henri Androuët, a well known Parisian cheese seller. It is a triple cream, 75% fat, over the top, cow's milk cheese from Normandy. It was lush, super creamy and sweet and was a perfect contrast to the robust little Boulette. Pair with a Saint Emilion.

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste, 1825

*No, ma'am, it is too strong, choose another. Pin It

Tuesday's Tastings

This week I finally tasted a cheese that I've wanted to try for years, Banon à la Feuille. I've read and heard so much about this little cheese that I had very high expectations. Suffice to say, it was out of this world!
We also tasted a wonderful Tomme de Chèvre and a lovely, rich Maroilles.


Banon has to be one of the most alluring, heady and luscious things I've ever tasted.
It is a raw goat's milk cheese that is wrapped in chestnut leaves, dipped in marc de Provence or eau de vie, tied up with raffia and left to mature for a few weeks. It can be eaten young, while the leaves are still green and the cheese is crumbly and tart or aged, like the one I bought, which was ultra ripe and runny and the leaves had turned brown, causing the crust to darken a bit. The flavor was winey, fruity, woodsy and amazing! Banon has been produced in Provence near the village of Banon since the Roman times and it was granted AOC status in 2003.
Good wine pairing would be a Chenin Blanc or a big red from Bordeaux.

before unwrapping


Banon oozing all over the place


The Tomme de Chèvre was made locally, about an hour away in the Pyrénées mountains. It is made from either pasteurized or unpasteurized goat's milk and the flavor was rich and nutty with a firm but creamy texture. Compared to the other two, the Tomme didn't really stand out, but it is a delicious cheese.
A good wine pairing would be a Minervois or a Saumur.

A trip to Les Halles in Narbonne yielded a nice chunk of Maroilles, a cheese from the north of France that our friends Jean-Pierre and Agnès said we must try. It gained AOC status in 1976 and was first produced by monks in the Abbey of Maroilles over 1000 years ago.
I bought the unpasteurized cow's milk Maroilles, but it is also made from pasteurized milk. The rind is bright orange color, the taste is slightly salty and tangy and the odor really makes an impression. You should have smelled our fridge!
Châteauneuf du Pape is the recommended wine to drink with Maroilles.


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