5 (Fromage) Things

1) Oozy grilled cheese at Paroles de Fromagers




2) goat and goat and goat




3) Emballage




4) Merci to the monks for making such delicious cheese!




5) Garrigue





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Photo du Jour - Climbing

There are always surprising scenes like this to discover on walks around the village. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Dazzling

A burst of color where the vineyards meet the garrigue.

This was taken a couple of days ago. I just stepped outside to find little flakes of snow falling. Pin It

Photo du Jour - le 1er août

The buzzing of the cigales is slowly quieting. The heat off the streets is shimmering. Hordes of Dutch, British and Belgian cars slowly drive around, looking lost. Young women walk around the village wearing teeny bikini tops and a sarongs, thinking there's a beach nearby, perhaps? People at the restaurant audaciously try to order 1 child's menu to share between their 3 pre-teens.

August is here.
Thankfully there are plenty of tranquil, out of the way places like this one to escape to. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Le Razégou

About an hour drive northeast of the Minervois, nestled in the spectacular, rugged Haut-Languedoc, is one of the most picturesque villages in the region. Roquebrun has been nicknamed le Petit Nice as it sits smack dab in the middle of a balmy micro climate where citrus trees, cacti and various types of succulents proliferate.


In the rugged Mediterranean scrub land surrounding Roquebrun is a small farm where Le Razégou, un petit fromage de chèvre, is produced.
The aroma left no doubt that this was a goat's cheese, and it was obvious that it was a very fresh goat's cheese. Look at how it was oozing when I unwrapped it.

Le Razégou's flavor is very gentle and even though the aroma is heady, the flavor definitely isn't overly "goaty." What struck me the most when I tasted it is how delicate a cheese this is, and how its supple texture literally melts in your mouth.
Delicious!


We tasted it with Confit de Figues aux Noix (Fig and Walnut Jam), a special jam that Betty brought us, which is made to enjoy with fromages de chèvre. It was perfect!

It also paired beautifully with the local red, which has hints of the same garrigue herbs and grasses that are grazed on by the goats in Roquebrun.

Local cheese and local wine. An impeccable match.

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Photo du Jour - Vineyard View

An early spring view over the vineyards and the garrigue.
Just over that hill is Minerve, one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Le Roves des Garrigues

Le Roves des Garrigues is an amazing, tangy little button of fresh, artisanal chèvre.

This snowy white cheese is produced in the Cevennes Mountains of the Languedoc-Roussillon by wandering goat herders. It is named for the Rove breed of goat and the Mediterranean pastures, the garrigue, where they graze. This breed produces considerably less milk than other goats - about 2 liters a day compared with an average goat's 5 liters a day - making it very rich.

The dense, creamy, rindless Roves des Garrigues has a sweet, peppery aroma and a rich, lingering flavor. It is full of citrus and pepper, is perfectly tangy and very fragrant with Mediterranean herbs such as lavender, thyme and savory.
I absolutely loved it!

Provençal rosé or white wine such as Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc or Pouilly Fuissé are good matches for this chèvre.


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Photo du Jour - Beekeeping

Our friend's beekeeping equipment. His bees make the most flavorful, succulent honey!

miel de romarin - rosemary honey - my favorite!
miel de garrigue - garrigue honey - the hives are kept near Minerve
miel de montagne - rich, dark mountain honey from the Montagne Noire
miel de bruyère - heather honey - lovely and rich Pin It

Photo du Jour

Walking on the road to nowhere* in the garrigue.


*I was thinking of the Talking Head's song when I wrote this. Pin It

Photo du Jour

My last morning dog sitting was a gorgeous one.

Now if I can just keep up the habit of walking every morning.... Pin It

La Garrigue - A Beautiful Morning

La Garrigue is a scrubland found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean basin, generally near the sea, typically consisting of evergreen shrubs such as lavender, rosemary, wild thyme, sage and myrtle, and trees such as juniper and stunted holm oaks.



This morning I grabbed by camera and took a walk up into the aromatic and gorgeous garrigue.






varieties of pine

wild thyme in bloom


a variety of orchid


purple seems to be a popular color


stone walls are built


and stone walls fall




a view of the village from up in la garrigue


If you understand French, check out this site, La Garrigue Gourmande.
In English - History of the Garrigue. Pin It

Camembert Férmier

Camembert Férmier  
In all its fragrant glory.



This is not your typical, wrapped up, perfectly round Camembert from a box.

This is a pure, lush, stinky Camembert made from the raw milk of six dairy cows that are kept by the Coopérative Cravirola, a small farm near Minerve . A young woman from the Coopértaive arrives each Tuesday at the Olonzac market with a glass case heaving with their luscious fermier cheeses.
I'm trying to slowly work my way through their selection, having already tasted their sublime Tomme de Maquis and the forgettable la Maquisarde.

The flavors of mushroom and hazelnuts were expertly balanced with hints of clean, green grass and wild thyme from the garrigue. It was gooey and velvety and melted in my mouth. As I savored each and every bite, I was really impressed by its depth and complexity.
The Camembert Férmier is a truly exceptional cheese!

We found the best wine match to be with wine produced here in the Minervois. We tasted it with an AOC red from the local wine co-op, les Trois Blasons, and with a white Muscat Sec from Domaine de Blayac.



It may well be the perfect cheese.


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La Fête du Fromage - From North and South

We tasted two cheeses this week. One that was produced up north in the enchanting Loire Valley and the other from the stunning and aromatic Mediterranean scrublands.

Voilà, Sainte-Maure de Touraine and la Maquisarde.



I've been waiting ages to try one of France's best loved goat cheeses from the Loire Valley, Sainte-Maure de Touraine. It is easily recognizable by its long, cylindrical shape and the piece of straw piercing its center. Historically, the straw was placed there to protect the young cheese from falling to pieces during handling.

Sainte-Maure is a striking cheese - a snowy, white interior surrounded by a wrinkled, grey-black crust. It has a lovely, walnut aroma and mild and nutty flavor that is perfectly balanced. The texture is dense and creamy. This is a (dare I say it?) very seductive cheese.

The production of Sainte-Maure de Touraine can be either fermier, coopérative or artisinal. It was awarded AOC status in 1990 and is available to enjoy any time of the year.
White wines such as Vouvray, Sancerre or Chablis or a red from the Loire such as Chinon are perfect matches for this cheese.





The scrub lands of the region where we live, called la garrigue, are heavily perfumed with wild thyme, juniper, lavender and rosemary. The cheese from this region has subtle hints of these wonderful aromas, creating a unique tasting experience.

I bought a piece of unpasteurized cow's milk cheese called la Maquisarde at the Olonzac market last Tuesday. It is produced at a small farm near Minerve, the Coopérative Cravirola, who also made the incredible Tomme de Maquis that we tasted a couple of weeks ago.

The flavor seemed young and underdeveloped with too much tanginess, and it had a heady, barnyard aroma that was rather unpleasant. Usually, smelly cheeses don't bother me but this time it did. Compared to the Tomme de Maquis, la Maquisarde was a disappointment. I definitely expected to enjoy this cheese more.
Oh well... They also make a Camembert that I want to try.
We had a glass of local, Minervois red with this cheese.


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Photo du Jour

The gorgeous garrigue. Full of wild thyme, wild fennel and wild boars! Pin It

A Drive Up the Hill

Minerve
A village named for the Roman goddess Minerva and the site where 180 followers of the Cathar religion were burned alive in 1210 for refusing to deny their faith during one of the bloody crusades led against them by the Catholic church. A stone plaque marks the massacre with these somber words; "Ici pour la foi Cathare 180 Parfaits sont morts par les flammes."

Minerve has a dramatic history and a dramatic situation. From our village it's about a ten minute drive on a narrow and very windy road up and over one hill, down into a gorge and up another hill. The road makes a final, sharp turn and the village appears before you. Perched on a rock island between two river gorges, Minerve does not fail to impress.

It is a beautiful, if not eerie, place to visit and is classified as one of les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Minerve is home to several artists, a few restaurants, a couple of museums and a church that was consecrated in 456 A.D. Around the village are spectacular walks in the gorges and the garrigue.

The best time to visit is in the spring or autumn. The summer can be be very hot and crowded.

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Au Revoir New Orleans

This afternoon I say goodbye to friends and this wonderful city to return home to France. Au revoir gumbo, crawfish etoufée, coffee with chicory and po' boys.
Bonjour confit de canard, cassoulet, crêpes and muscat.
I'm so excited to see my husband, dogs and crazy cat! I can't wait to have a glass of decent red wine and smell the wild thyme that grows in the garrigue that surrounds our village. Pin It