Past Newsletters

Vol. 5 No. 12

“Holiday Cheer” Made Better with “Holiday Cheese!”

As we draw a close to the 5th Volume of our In Pursuit of Cheese Monthly Newsletter, we have plenty of reasons to celebrate. For starters, there’s the fact that we’ve been around for five amazing years now, bringing impeccable gourmet cheeses from around the world to happy subscribers everywhere. And then of course, there are those wonderful subscribers themselves, who give us the opportunity to do what we love—share the world’s wonderful cheeses! And another reason to celebrate—we’re back in the holiday season—a favorite time of the year for us, not only because we have our own family and friends to celebrate with, but also because we know that we’ll be a part of so many other families’ and friends’ celebrations as well when they receive the treasures of each month’s cheese selections they’ve received as gifts. If you haven’t already found that special gift for someone you’ve been shopping for, hey, what are you waiting for? Visit us at www.monthlyclubs.com and be amazed at the variety of fantastic features we offer—our club memberships make unforgettable gifts for anyone, especially that “hard to shop for” person in your life.

From all of us here at the club, happy holidays, and have a wonderful new year!

L’Edel de Cleron—Cheese From the Mountain Of Gold

Historically, when milk production levels were turned down at summer’s end, farmers in the French Alps would cope with the reduced lactic quantities by producing smaller cheeses. As small goat cheeses were commonly referred to as “chevrotins”, they implemented the term “vacherins” to describe their small cow’s milk cheeses (as you’ve likely ascertained, the word “vache” means “cow” in French). In a region of the Alps that straddles the Franco-Swiss border, you will find the Jura Mountains, and within these giants is the famous Mont d’Or, a mountain that is claimed, in part, by both the French and the Swiss. Not surprisingly then, the vacherin cheese named after this mountain, Vacherin Mont d’Or, has been made by both the French and the Swiss—since the 1700’s in fact. Its popularity transcended the highest peaks of the Jura, and yet, despite how well-liked this cheese was, it once was at the heart of a reviled debate. You see, although most of the Mont d’Or region of the Alps lies in France, both countries called their cheese Vacherin Mont d’Or. That was, until 1973, when to the outrage of the French, the Swiss clandestinely arranged to commandeer exclusive legal rights to the name. Considering how passionate the French have always been about their cheeses, it is incredible that they responded with incommensurate restraint, simply acquiescing to a subtle name change. Today, French Vacherin Mont d’Or is either labeled “Le Mont d’Or” or “Vacherin du Haut-Doubs,” renamed to reflect the indisputably French region from which it comes.

Banned in the USA!

Vacherin Mont d’Or, both French and Swiss varieties, was originally produced from raw cow’s milk. However, in 1983 the Swiss began using pasteurized milk instead of raw milk in an attempt to control Vacherin’s somewhat wild nature. Vacherin is a creamy, almost runny cheese, and soft cheeses, as opposed to hard cheeses, particularly unpasteurized (raw milk) varieties, can support the growth and multiplication of Listeria monocytogenes, rare but virulent bacteria. Unfortunately, in 1983, there was a serious outbreak of listeriosis in Switzerland. The unpasteurized French version was blamed by logical conclusion since the Swiss variety had been pasteurized. However, even pasteurized cheeses are not immune to listeria infection, and time would eventually exonerate French Vacherin (which was blamed for many years) when the outbreak was eventually traced back to the Swiss version. Unfortunately, with listeriosis outbreaks often comes fright and with fright come powerful associations of memory, thus, people for a long time avoided the French Vacherin, which ultimately had a disastrous effect on the sale of this cheese. Slowly, the truth about whose cheese was to blame became understood and accepted, and consequently French sales began to increase. The only country that has not accepted the truth is the USA, where Vacherin, French or Swiss, is still banned to this day.

Are We Breaking the Law?

So now, you may be asking yourself, “How can the Gourmet Cheese of the Month Club have sent me Vacherin if it is banned from entry to the USA?” Well, as it turns out, you don’t have real Vacherin in front of you, but we did manage to procure the next best thing. It is called L’Edel de Cleron and it is created by following a traditional Vacherin recipe. The only recipe difference is that this cheese is gently pasteurized. This cheese is sometimes referred to as Faux Vacherin. Its creamy, almost runny consistency when it’s ripe is identical in texture to the real thing. Also identical is the strip of red pine that surrounds it. Because these young cheeses are fairly delicate, they’re banded with bark (usually spruce, fir or pine) to hold the shape for storage and serving. Each L’Edel de Cleron is bound with a thin strip of red pine known as a sangle (which you should not remove or this cheese may lose its shape before you can finish it). The practice of applying such sangles has even given rise to a unique vocation, that of the sangleur who, working in the forests of the Jura, lifts the special strips from felled pines.

Gaperon—Six Hundred Years in the Making!

At the very center of France lies the mountainous region of the Massif Central. At its core lies the historic region of Auvergne, its name derived from the Arverni, a Celtic people whose leader, Vercingetorix, defied and was defeated by Julius Caesar. But the human history of this region goes back much further than Roman times, as many archaeologists believe that the area has been settled by humans longer than anywhere else in France.

Since the reign of the Bourbon Kings who came from the region, Auvergnats have certainly been no strangers to positions of power in France; politicians such as Georges Pompidou and Jacques Chirac both hail from this region. With a reputation for being tough and thrifty, the Auvergnats, who like to describe France as “Auvergne with a bit of land around it,” have often traveled far in search of work. It is commonplace to find many Auvergnat-run cafés in Paris, for example.

Of course, Auvergnats need not travel at all in order to find lands perfect for cheese making. In the northern part of Auvergne one finds the fertile basin of the Limagne, where dairying and beef cattle abound today as they have for hundreds of years. The Gaperon cheese we’ve sent you is handcrafted using ancient methods developed in the region, and it will taste very similar to the ones enjoyed by the ploughmen and dairymaids of the 14th Century! Gaperon, which is a specialty of the region, has a white fluffy rind and a shape like that of a tiny igloo. It was originally made with the “babeurre” which is milk left over from making butter (a.k.a. buttermilk), which explains the name of this cheese: ‘Gaperon’ is taken from the local French dialectical word for buttermilk which is ‘gap’ or ‘gape’. Fresh milk is added to the cheese curds and pepper and an interesting local variety of pink garlic are both added to the mix.

Over the centuries Gaperons were hung in the farmhouse kitchen or the storeroom to age, and because butter at one time was a source of wealth, it was said that the number of cheeses in the kitchen related directly to the farmer’s wealth. According to old folktales, when (or just before) a daughter engaged, the bridegroom’s family would estimate the bride’s family wealth by counting Gaperons. Thus, a large number of cheeses meant the farmer’s daughters were more desirable! The cheeses were sometimes tied with yellow ribbons and offered as wedding gifts or harvest symbols, and the decoration is still in use today. However, some customs have changed. Today Gaperon is no longer made from buttermilk, or matured in the farmhouse kitchen; usually they sit on rye straw in a damp cellar for one to two months.

Society Bee Roquefort—From Forgotten Lunch to Legendary Cheese

Once upon a time a young shepherd was guarding his herd of ewes near the “Grotte [caves] du Combalou,” a large cliff face that dominates the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the beautiful region of the Aveyron in southern central France. He was just about to prepare his midday meal when his eye was caught by a beautiful young lady in the distance. Fascinated, he attempted to follow her. He left his dog to look after the herd and hid his lunch consisting of bread and cheese in the cool, damp rocks of the “grotte.” Sadly, our shepherd never found the young woman, ending up simply returning to his herd, tired and disappointed.

Months later he came upon the lunch that he had hidden. The bread had decomposed and given the cheese streaks of blue veins. In a move that sounds at least mildly unsanitary today, he tried the abandoned cheese and found that the taste was remarkable. And thus, Roquefort cheese was born. This exquisite alchemy is the product of milk, bread, air and time. It did not take long for him to share this mystery with his fellow herdsmen and within a short time, many of the caves had been converted into “cabanes en bois,” or “huts of wood,” so named for the oak planks built in the interior of the caves where cheeses were left to ripen. Incidentally, the word “cabanes” is still with us today; the people that work in the modern day affineur cellars are called “cabaniers.”

In the centuries since the shepherd’s forgotten lunch, the center of Roquefort cheese making has always been Roquefort-sur-Soulzon. Roquefort’s name-controlled AOC status is probably the oldest in all of France. The cheese is said to date back to the time of Pliny the Elder in ancient Rome (circa 75 AD). Today Roquefort is made with pure sheep’s milk, which is inoculated with a special type of blue mold, penicillium roqueforti, obtained from bread left to mold in the caves of the Combalou Mountains where the original Roquefort cheese was accidentally created. Ripening, which is of paramount importance, takes a minimum of 3 months and can legally occur only in the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the chalky Combalou Mountain, the Northeast part of which has partly collapsed over its clayey bed. This geological accident opened a series of caves in the debris, with vertical faults and fissures, known as fleurines, which provide natural ventilation.

Following preparation in dairy farms, the cheese is salted and then pierced with needles. It is then placed in long rows on top of oak planks lining the natural caves. Thus starts a long maturing and aging process, which takes place under the careful watch of maîtres-affineurs (master maturers). The well-known green-blue marbled appearance of Roquefort develops when the cool, damp air is swept in through the fleurines, developing the roqueforti mold within the cheese’s pierced channels.

Roquefort should always be protected either by its original wrapping or a sheet of aluminum. This will prevent it from drying out and ensure that its deliciously unctuous texture remains well preserved. It is advisable to place it on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator, though it goes without saying that a damp, cool cellar represents an even better solution. Care should be taken to avoid drastic changes in temperature, as this can spoil the cheese.

Tasting Notes:

L’Edel de Cleron

A creamy, soft cheese with a nice bite of mushrooms and herbs. The flavor of L’Edel de Cleron is perfumed with scents of the forest. The texture is very rich and creamy and its sanglage of red pine contributes a gentle bitterness due to its inherent tannins. Serve it with simple crackers and a good fruit bowl, or spread the cheese on toast and melt it in the oven. The traditional way to eat ripe Vacherin Mont d’Or, or your L’Edel de Cleron, is to cut off the top rind and eat the runny cheese out of the center. In the Jura, people make a complete meal of it with boiled potatoes and cumin seeds. Sometimes wine is poured over the top and the entire box is wrapped in foil and baked for 20 minutes. Riesling is among the many wines that go well with this cheese.

Gaperon

The flavor of this cheese is tart when young and under-ripe, but turns buttery and brie-like with nearly overwhelming garlic and pepper notes when ripened. The texture is course, but at the same time quite pleasurable and the flavor presents a gentle acidity and mild tanginess. Often cured on a hook by fire, this cheese may also present a slightly smoky note. Any robust red wine, such as Côtes-du-Rhône (such as Corbières), Syrahs or Cabernets, is a good complement to gaperon.

Roquefort

Roquefort has a tingly pungent taste, a distinct bouquet, and a flavor that combines the sweet burnt-caramel taste of sheep’s milk with the sharp, metallic tang of the blue mould. When destined for a cheese board, Roquefort should be brought to room temperature at least one hour before being served, just like a good wine. Only at room temperature will it offer the full splendor of its aroma, softness and sophisticated flavor. Recommended wines include Zinfandel Port, which tastes like a black breakfast tea—interesting, complex, and not as sweet as a traditional port—as well as Cahors, Fronton, or Madiran. Enjoy!