French Cheese and Wine

Over the last (almost) 13 years I've covered a lot of topics here on Chez Loulou, and the one that I still love to talk about and am most passionate about is French cheese.
But lately cheese has been getting some competition.

My project to taste all the cheese slowly progresses and I continually nerd out with books like The Oxford Companion to Cheese and Mastering Cheese.
I always want to learn more, read more and eat more cheese.

Also, for the last few years I've had the incredible opportunity to offer a French cheese tasting workshop with Paris by Mouth. It is the highlight of my week and the most fun I ever imagined a job could be.



French cheese will always be my greatest love, but now I've fallen for something else.
I'm having a little fling with French wine.

(shhh....don't tell cheese)

Over the summer I enrolled in an intense, online French Wine Scholar certification program and I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought that after 15 years in France, enjoying the regional wines and even living in a wine making region for 8 years, I would have a pretty solid base to work from. Well....



Now I wake up in the middle of the night and my mind automatically starts listing the principal villages of the Côte de Nuits from north to south and notes which ones have Grand Crus.
I spend time on the Métro memorizing the unusual grape varieties of SW France and remembering which grape dominates which area of Champagne. Terms like gneiss, semi-carbonic maceration, Portlandian marl and sur lie swirl around in my head. I have flash cards and a dozen highlighters.

I am in awe of how much there is to learn and just how much I didn't know. And it's so much fun! I mean, my brain hurts most of the time and I'm slightly terrified of the exam I have to take at the end, but wine is a fabulous subject to study.

Here's to my new love!



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Where To Taste Wine In Paris

Take a class.
Thierry Givone owns Wine Tasting in Paris, a charming tasting space in the Latin Quarter. I'm a big fan of this guy! He helped me arrange a private Champagne tasting for my family last year, which they absolutely loved. They came away feeling like experts and happily continue applying their Champagne knowledge today.




Head to the Seine.
Paris boasts 65 open-air markets and 13 covered markets, so assembling a picnic is a snap. Then head to your local caviste or hit the grocery store for a bottle or two. Just don't forget the corkscrew!

Go to a tasting.
Most Saturdays you can meet the winemakers while tasting their wine at one of the best wine shops in the city, La Dernière Goutte.
Additionally, its owner, Juan Sanchez, offers a fundamentals of French wine class called Elements, which I'm taking next week. You can never have too much wine knowledge!




At the café. 
They might not serve the best wine that France has to offer, but the people watching will more than make up for it.




On a balcony.
Don't have one? I'm sure you know someone who does!



"Decisions, decisions."






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5 Things

1) Flower boxes





2) Pink Champagne





3) Wading in the warm sea





4) Harissa





5) Fading frescoes



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Photo du Jour - Les Huîtres

We started off our Christmas day feast with oysters and Champagne.  Pin It

What is Your Favorite French Wine? The Twitterverse Responds

Twitter is one of my favorite ways to stay connected with real friends (those of whom, like me, can't resist constantly updating their status in 140 characters or less) and virtual "friends" who share links, recipes, thoughts, jokes, restaurant reviews, travel information and news.

From time to time I like to throw a question out into the Twitterverse and see what people have to say.
Last January I asked What Dish Says "France" to You? and in March I posed the question, If you were a French cheese, which one would you be?

Most recently I asked about your favorite French wines.  Here's how you answered;

doeif  Champagne for me, please! Closely followed by Bandol, Faugeres and Viognier...

LostNCheeseland I keep wanting to contribute to this but I barely drink so my idea of a good wine is one that is slightly sweet!

cowgirlchef  Champagne. Definitely.

gitesdirect  Florenbelle, a crisp citrussy white wine from the Gers, is my favourite

BarbraAustin Champagne!

veronicafrance  Chablis of course. Or Sancerre

pro_vence  always discovering new wines...  but I do like the Côtes du Rhône Beaumes de Venise (muscat, sweet for apéritif)

LaFranglaise dry and palest brick-orange rosés for me http://www.domainedusacrecoeur.com 1998 was just lovely & very local :)

petitfranceblog  I'm really into Bandol red lately, but it's a bit heavy in alcohol content, drinker beware :)

ormiga  if can cheat, #champagne; for coolest name+taste, #criotlebatard #montrachet; else #petrus 95=1fav

foodwinediarist  Much as I love Burgundy, a southern red would be the top wine for me - Bandol.

Stocius Gevrey-Chambertin.

Idreamoffrance Pinot Noir!

KirstenStroud champagne

 

TheLittleChef Mas De Daumas Gassac, Ch. Figeac (St. Emilion), or Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes. I just can't decide

Elisabeth850 Clairette de Die!

TheWineRules  Chateau Simone

  
WeekendInParis  I love #champagne of course & toured Vadin Plateau where I fell in love w/it in France. Gr8 price & gr8 taste!

cutestmidget oooooooh Gewürztraminer vendange tardive. without a doubt. pure decadence in a bottle.

spacedlawyer  Chambolle Musigny

LYNZINTHESUN  mine a crisp Sancerre or a pudding sweet Monbazillac as an aperitif with ice x

louloufrance Viognier or Muscat St Jean de Minervois

And my favorite Tweet: 
TheBoldSoul Champagne. Yesterday, today, and always.

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Flavors I Love

Crisp, fizzy Champagne. Sometimes with a splash of something sweet


Crispy-crunchy with coarse salt


Earthy morel mushrooms with perfectly cooked, creamy risotto


A peppery bite with summer-ripe tomatoes and crumbly Parmigiano


Warm, tangy chèvre and sweet caramelized onion jam


Creamy vanilla with a crunchy, sugar top


Sweet and tart

Soft, dark chocolate and chewy. Preferably with pecans Pin It

Bonne Année!

In France it is considered bad luck to wish someone a Happy New Year until it is actually the first of January. I wish they would put that in the manual or something because our first couple of years here I was going around jinxing friends, neighbors, even the mayor by wishing them a Bonne Année before the actual event.
Fortunately one of our neighbors kindly informed me of my faux pas and I have since mended my ways.


I would like to wish you and yours a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year!

Bonne Année et Bonne Santé!

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Caipirinha + Champagne = Mal de Tête

Every couple of months or so my girlfriends and I get together for an evening of girl talk and a catch up on each others lives. Sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes we dance, always we discuss juicy topics and share delicious food and drink.

At our last gathering it was my night off of work and I wasn't driving. I had one little, teensy-weensy caipirinha and a couple glasses (well, maybe three) of Champagne. The next morning...ouch.
A headache of epic proportions.


So the next time you're offered caipirinhas and Champagne, stick with one or the other.
Don't say I didn't warn you. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Brie de Montereau

This wedge of Brie de Montereau may have been a bit too ripe and runny by the time we ate it, but it tasted absolutely dreamy!


The flavor of Brie de Montereau is richer than the lusty Brie de Melun, but slightly milder than Brie's extrovert cousin, Coulommiers.
The 4-6 weeks of affinage result in a well balanced and intensely flavored cheese. It is lusciously, melt-in-your-mouth smooth, with flavors of creamy butter, hazelnuts and mushrooms, and a bit of salt. Truly captivating!

It is produced from unpasteurized cow's milk during the months of March to July, in the area surrounding the town of Montereau, in the Seine-et-Marne département.
If you enjoy Brie with some élan and a bit of moxie, then you'll love this one.


A glass of red wine from Burgundy or a Côte du Rhône are both good matches. I also think a glass of Champagne would be perfect with Brie de Montereau. Pin It

Le Quatorze Juillet

My Quatorze Juillet Wish - that next year on le Quatorze Juillet I will be singing le Marseillaise and toasting la Belle France with some Champagne as a proper French citizen. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Roussin and Galotin du Dauphiné

Roussin and Galotin du Dauphiné are two petit, essentially bite-sized cheeses that I picked up at our local Intermarché.
I have to admit, it was their cute, dainty little size and the fact that they were sold in packs of four that sold me. And the Saint-Félicien...well, I had to buy some, it is irresistible!


Le Roussin is produced in the Haute-Marne by a cheesemaker who also makes two of France's most memorable cow's milk AOC cheeses, Langres and Époisses. Its full name is Roussin au marc de Bourgogne and it is rich, meltingly soft and creamy, with pleasant salty and mushroom flavors. The cheese's rind is bathed in marc de Bourgogne and is quite aromatic, but I tasted no lingering flavor from the spirits.
Some Chablis or Champagne would be a good wine match.

Le Galotin du Dauphiné is produced alongside Saint-Félicien and Saint-Marcellin cheeses in the Isère département of southwestern France. Its dry, chalky and chewy texture is similar to an aged Saint-Félicien. This is a mild, nutty flavored, soft cheese that just wasn't that special. Basically, it lacks character. If given the choice, I would prefer either Saint-Félicien or Saint-Marcellin to Le Galotin du Dauphiné.
A glass of red Côtes de Ventoux or white Viognier would pair with any of these three cheeses.


Both Roussin and Galotin du Dauphiné, although produced by individual cheesemakers, are sold by Rians a company that sells fromage blanc, yogurt, cheeses and other dairy products. (be warned - the website plays music) Pin It

Photo du Jour - Champagne in the Sun

Champagne poured over a splash of Pomegranate Liqueur is a delicious aperitif.

And it's even better when enjoyed on your friend's sunny terrace where the temperature reaches 75 degrees, even on a cold November day. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Cendré de Champagne

Cendré de Champagne looks gritty. Which kind of turned me off at first.
Grittiness is not a characteristic that I look for when buying cheese.
But it does come from the Champagne-Ardenne region, home to Langres, a huge favorite of mine (and Champagne of course, another huge favorite of mine), so I figured that it would redeem itself.

It did.

Besides, cheese crusts can be cut away.


Cendré de Champagne is matured in damp caves for 6-8 weeks, covered in poplar and beech tree ash, hence the gritty texture of the crust. Traditionally the ash came from the fire in which pig's trotters had been cooked, adding a certain 'je ne sais quoi' to the flavor of the cheese.
These days the ash is pig trotter free and adds a nice, subtle smokiness to its rich, medium-strong, luscious flavor.
Although, the creamy richness is deceiving. The fat content in this unpasteurized cow's milk cheese is only 20-30%, as opposed to the more than 40% of most cheeses.

Just as the little bubbles of Champagne tickle your tongue when you drink it, Cendré de Champagne prickles and tickles your tongue when you eat it, taking its absolute deliciousness to a whole new level.

A glass of Côteau Champenois rouge is suggested with Cendré de Champagne.


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An Indonesian Feast in the South of France

 I can't believe that more than a month has flown by since our last World Food Evening. This is a post that I've been meaning to write for about five weeks now.
Oh well...it's summer. Blame my tardiness on lazy, hot days and lots of rosé.
In late June we took a little culinary journey to Indonesia. Everyone agreed that it was one of the best nights so far. All of the food was fabulous!

We sat outside on our friend's roof terrace and savored a beautiful summer's evening.
Sadly, it was our last evening at their house as they've sold up and are moving soon. We decided a Champagne toast was appropriate (and really, isn't Champagne always appropriate?) to celebrate their new adventures.
The first course was a cold dish of steamed vegetables with a peanut sauce dressing called Gado-Gado. The flavors were cool, fresh, a bit spicy and absolutely wonderful.
fresh and peanuty Gado-Gado
The hot dishes were Chicken Rendang and Bami Goreng served with steamed white rice.
When I first heard about the Chicken Rendang I was worried. I'm not a huge fan of dried coconut and it appeared that this dish had an ultra coconutty sauce. Luckily, the spices and chiles and coconut milk totally balanced the out the flavor, so I was barely aware of the shredded, dried coconut. It was delicious!
Is it weird that I love coconut milk but hate dried coconut? Yeah, probably...

The Bami Goreng was sublime. The perfect combination of noodles, diced ham and shrimp with spicy and sweet flavors.
Here's the recipe.

coconutty Chicken Rendang and Bami Goreng

Dessert was not along the theme of the evening, however.
We had three birthdays to celebrate so we decided to have a traditional birthday cake. My contribution to the evening was a dark chocolate layer cake with dark chocolate frosting, complete with birthday candles.

Plans for the next evening are in the works. We'll be cooking the cuisine of Cuba sometime in August. Mojitos will be mandatory.

Some of our previous World Food Evenings:
Manhattan Cocktail Party
South African
Turkish
American BBQ
Spanish
Brazilian
Mexican
Italian
Southeast Asian
An Evening at the Races Pin It

Hives!

And I'm not talking about the beekeeper's.

Monday evening my wrists started itching. Then my torso started tingling and itching. Then my neck and ankles and legs and, well, pretty much everywhere. All over my body. I went to bed, hoping that I would sleep through it. Which I did. Until 2:30 am. I got up, searched in vain for some Benadryl (or anything related) but ended up back in bed, scratching, until I finally fell back to sleep.
Tuesday morning I had some red patches and mild itching which went away by mid-morning.

We went through everything we'd eaten, anything I had touched, everywhere we'd been on Monday, trying to figure out the source of the hives. We just couldn't figure it out!
Tuesday afternoon, it started up all over again. Ask Lucy, I was on the phone with her while endlessly scratching my wrists. I finally took some of my husband's allergy medicine and the itchiness went away before bedtime.

Yesterday we were trying to figure out what to drink with a nice lunch of salad and pasta, when I grabbed a bottle of grapefruit soda off the shelf and set it down triumphantly on the kitchen table.
Voilà, the source of my hives!
We had never tried this stuff before Monday. It was the only possible source. (and I almost blamed some Saint-Félicien cheese just because I hadn't eaten any in a while)

I couldn't believe it! I mean, I could believe it - I know that soda pop stuff isn't good for me - but I rarely drink it.
Well, I won't be drinking it ever again, now that it gives me hives!

Guess from now on if I want something fizzy to drink, I'll have to settle for Champagne or Crémant de Limoux. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Salers Tradition and Langres

I finally came across some Langres, a cheese I've been trying to find for ages! We tasted it with a nice hunk of Salers Tradition for this week's Fête du Fromage.


The mountains of the Auvergne region of central France is home to a chestnut colored breed of cattle called Salers. After a summer of grazing on sweet mountain pastures, the raw milk from this special breed is used to make Salers Tradition cheese, an entirely fermier AOC cheese. It is similar to Cantal, the main difference is that Cantal can be made from milk produced all year long and Salers only from the summer milk. The cheese is made and aged in mountain burons (stone huts) just as it has been for the last two thousand years.
The piece I bought was aged for 18 months and was salty, tangy and strong tasting with hints of grass and flowers. I loved it's flavor, but my husband wasn't very excited about this one. (more for me!) It's aroma was meaty and heady and the texture was soft and crumbly.

Salers Tradition would be delicious served with fruit such as pears or grapes and fantastic with walnuts. Pour a glass of Touraine or a fruity Beaujolais to drink with this cheese.



Gooey, runny and utterly delectable, Langres (LAHNG-gruh) was truly worth it's hefty little price tag. (5 € for this 150 gram cheese in a basket)
The high plains of Langres in the Champagne-Ardenne region is home to the artisans who make this superb AOC awarded cheese. Difficult to see in this picture, but the there is a little well or fontaine on top into which you can pour Champagne, Chablis or marc de Champagne*. Then, when you cut into the cheese, it is bathed in spirits. But the flavor is so incredible it doesn't need to be bathed in anything! Just have a glass of Chablis or Champagne or marc with the Langres while you're eating it.
It has a smelly, barnyard aroma (for lack of a better description) and a wet, shiny looking crust. The cheese melts in your mouth as spicy, creamy and mildly salty flavors blend together and send waves of pleasure throughout your entire body. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a tiny bit, but this cheese is very special!



*marc de Champagne is a clear, colorless brandy made by distilling the residue of skins, seeds and stalks left after pressing the grapes in the first stage of making Champagne Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Rocamadour and Chaource

Well, I finally made a list of all the cheeses we've tasted and this week's are numbers 29 and 30.
Only 30! Seems like we've tried a lot more than that.

A mere 335 more to taste.

Presenting Rocamadour and Chaource.

The minute you unwrap the little discs of Rocamadour, their lovely, hazelnutty aroma fills the room.

Made from unpasteurized goat's milk and recognized as one of France's AOC cheeses since 1996, these little babies are tasty and fabulous! Rocamadour cheese comes from the stunning, vertical, cliff-hugging town of Rocamadour in the Quercy region of the Lot Département.
It is the oldest cheese from this area - there is even documentation from the 15th Century of it's use as legal tender!
It has a very soft, slightly crumbly interior that melts on your tongue and its taste is mild and nutty. A perfect cheese to toast on bread and add to a salad or to spread on rye bread and drink with a hearty red wine, such as a Cahors.



Produced since the Middle Ages, Chaource takes it's name from a village in the famous Champagne region. Made from unpasteurized cow's milk and a recognized AOC cheese since 1970, Chaource can be enjoyed young, when it's flavor is light and the texture is firm and smooth, or aged, when the interior becomes runny around the edges and the flavor intensifies. 
The one we tasted was aged a bit. Its flavor was buttery, tangy and nutty with light mushroom and cream aromas. It reminded us of Camembert or a triple cream cheese from northern France.
I recommend this one highly.
Enjoy with fruit and some Champagne, of course!

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Saumur Spring

Spring, beautiful spring.
The almond trees are in bloom, the vines are waking up and strawberries and asparagus are in season.



Asparagus Risotto time. I look forward to this every year.
I picked up a fat bunch of asparagus and a basket of deep, red strawberries at the market on Tuesday morning. The cupboards were pretty bare when I returned from the States, so I had to make do with what I could find.
Asparagus risotto usually calls for white wine but I didn't have any. I did, however, have Saumur, a sparkling white wine from the Loire Valley. A quick look in the Internet and voilà, a recipe for Champagne and Asparagus Risotto.



This is my adapted version. I didn't even have cheese for the recipe! Fortunately, the flavor was great without it.

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
  
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken broth
  
• 2 cups Champagne
• 1 lb medium sized asparagus, trimmed
  
• black pepper, freshly ground
• salt
• 1 Tbs butter
• 2 Tbs Pecorino-Romano cheese, freshly grated

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook until the onion is translucent.
3. While onion is cooking, blanch asparagus for 2-3 minutes, plunge into ice water and cut into 1 inch pieces.
   
4. Add rice, stirring to coat all the grains. Cook, stirring, for a few minutes.
5. Add 1 cup stock. Cook, stirring, until stock is absorbed.
6. Add 1 cup Champagne or Saumur. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.
7. When almost absorbed, add the rest of the Champagne.
8. After the Champagne is absorbed, add 1/2 cup of the stock. Cook, stirring, until the liquid is almost absorbed.
9. Add the rest of the stock in small amounts until rice is tender, about 30 to 40 minutes from when you put in the first cup of stock. I always find that the liquid to rice ratio is relative to the quality of the rice. You may need more than 4 cups liquid, you may need less.
10. Just before the last of the stock is added, add the asparagus to the rice.
    
11. Stir in freshly ground pepper, to taste.
12. Add the butter and cheese.
13. Stir well, taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary.
14. Enjoy!
    

The risotto had a really lovely, balanced flavor from the sparkling wine. It was creamy and delicious! I plan to do more experimenting with replacing regular white wine with the fizzy stuff in recipes.

For dessert: strawberries and the rest of the Saumur.

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