La Fête du Fromage - le Carré du Vinage

The various cheeses from the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region have garnered mixed reviews during the course of my tastings.

The bright orange Boulette d'Avesnes was acrid, harsh and too in your face, while Bergues tasted like, well, for lack of a better description, air.  Le Cameau was a hit, but Le Cados was a miss.  Maroilles was a nice enough cheese and melts beautifully into a delicious sauce for pork, and smelly Vieux-Boulogne was spectacular and utterly memorable.  


Le Carré du Vinage, an unpasteurized cow's milk fromage férmier, has officially cured my ambivalence toward the cheeses of this region. It is unbelievable!

The sticky, washed rind of le Carré du Vinage releases a heady aroma that doesn't try to hide the fact that this is a very strong, intense cheese.  Its flavors are multidimensional;  mushroom and nuts, yeast and salt, fruit and spirits.  I love it and hope that one day I have the opportunity to meet Thérèse Marie, the fromagère at the farm, and congratulate her on a job well done.

This cheese would pair will with either beer or a white wine from Alsace, such as Riesling. 

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La Fête du Fromage - le Cados

The jury's still out on this one.

I take a bite and it is pretty tasty. Then I start chewing and absorb the full, heady, boozy flavor, and it practically knocks me on my ass.

Le Cados.

Another cheese by Carole Brihier of La Société Fromages Service in Campigneulles-les-Grandes, in the Pas-de-Calais département. She's the genius behind le Cameau, a cheese we tasted a few weeks ago.


Calvados soaked breadcrumbs surrounding rich Camembert


My husband and I both tasted it. Both of us were undecided. Was it good? Did we like it? It was highly unusual for both of us to be this ambivalent. We aren't shy about expressing our opinions around here!
So we recruited six friends to be guinea pigs and give us their opinion as well.

"Too strong."
"Would taste delicious with apple or pear slices to cut the strong flavor."
"Strong and unusual. It's...interesting."
"Wow. Really rich and has a strong alcohol flavor."

Do I sense a pattern here?

Le Cados' strength is exactly why neither my husband nor I were sure about it. Not that I don't like strong cheese. Au contraire. I love it.
But this Calvados soaked, raw milk Camembert is exceptionally potent and intense.

So, as half of it sits in my fridge, uneaten and mocking me every time I open the door and look in there, I have to state my honest opinion and say that it is highly doubtful that we'll finish it.

I wanted to like le Cados, I really did.
However, I won't be pursuing this one again any time soon. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - le Cameau

The sweet, yeasty aroma of this week's exceptional cheese seduced me immediately!



Le Cameau is a raw milk Camembert that has been left to mature in an alcoholic apple and Calvados mélange from Normandy called Pommeau, then covered in crushed walnuts before being wrapped up and left to tempt the unsuspecting consumer with it's alluring look and fragrance.

It's creator, Carole Brihier, has created a société with her husband to continue the work of her Artisan Fromager Affineur father, André Faccetti.
La Société Fromages Service in Campigneulles-les-Grandes, in the Pas-de-Calais département, offers an array of unpasteurized Camembert and Brie cheeses that have been aged in either Cognac, Cointreau, Hard Cider, Pommeau, Calvados or Kirsch.


at room temperature - oozing all over the plate



the wet, sticky underside

The flavor was sweet, yeasty and fruity, with noticeable hints of apple from the Pommeau. It had a nice tang and tickled your tongue. The texture was smooth and supple and I thought the walnuts added a nice character.
I took some notes while I was tasting le Cameau for the first time and when I read them over, there was one word in capital letters; TANTALIZING.
That pretty much sums it up.

I couldn't recommend le Cameau more highly!

Hard cider would pair well with this cheese, but we drank a glass of local white, which worked just fine. Pin It