Époisses de Bourgogne (Burgundy)

I bought Époisses de Bourgogne only once. The cheese was very expensive and was available for a short period of time.
It is said that Napoleon Bonaparte loved it. It's hard to write a review of the cheese if you haven't tasted it a few times. Sometimes my sense of taste cant't appreciate such a complex cheese. I hope I will be given a second chance to recognize how really good is Époisses de Bourgogne.


There are a few factors which tells me that I should love the cheese. It is artisanal made in France from a pungent unpasteurized cow's milk. The cheese mature in cellar for at least six weeks. During the process,  is rinsed up to 3-5 times per week in a mixture of water and marc de Bourgogne (local pomace brandy). Each cheese is also brushed by hand to spread the bacteria evenly over the surface.The intensive orange-red exterior is the result of yeast fermentation. The stinky rind covers meaty,salty, pudding-like interior.

Époisses - I'm waiting for you!

Ossau-Iraty (Aquitaine, Pyrenées Atlantiques)

I haven't eaten the cheese for a long time (update: It came back at the and end of 2011) but it's hard to forget its firm, orange-yellow to gray rind. A rind is my favorite part of the most cheeses. It often has more flavor than a paste. Alike a  bread crust which I found tastier than a crumb.
The shepherds from the French  Pyrénées has been making cheese for centuries. Ossau Iraty is made with the milk of the Manech and Basco-Bearnaise ewes. It is dried and regularly rubbed for 3 months and further   aged in the Artisanal Premium Cheese caves until its paste turns a luscious ivory. The cheese is sweet and buttery and the closer to its  rind  the more it resembles toasted hazelnuts.

S.A.F.R Port Salut ( Pays de la Loire/Mayenne)

S.A.F.R Port Salut decends from the one of France oldest Trappist cheeses . It used to be produced as Port-du -Salut by the Trappist Abbey of Notre-Dame de Port -du -Salut (Harbor of Healing) and in 1938 the monks were granted the exclusive rights to produces the cheese. The cheese was presented in Paris in 1873 and soon gained popularity. Today,  Port Salut is produced by the dairy cooperative of Mayenne, which bought the license from the monks, who were unable to keep up with demand for the cheese.

As you see in the photos above  Port Salut has natural orange rind. The interior  is smooth, ivory colored and has mild and acidic flavor. I like eating  Port Salut warmed and softened on a slice of rye bread. I used to consider the cheese as bland and not aromatic, but now I appreciate it much more.

Bleu d'Auvergne (Fromageries Occitanes, Auvergne/Cantal)

 Bleu d'Auvergne is (really) moist, buttery and salty ; has ivory color and is  generously veined with bluish-green molds; I wish I could buy it again. I really miss the cheese and I find it much tastier than Roquefort.

Bleu d'Auvergne was invented in the mid-1850s by a French cheesemaker named Antoine Roussel.  He noticed  blue spots (similar to those growing on breads) on his cheeses maturing in the cellars. He was attracted by the flavor of the blueness and found it "special, pleasant and scented".  He decided to apply a rye bread mold to the curd to create the veining. He also noticed that  pricking the curd with a needle  increased aeration and let the mold to enter the curd and supported its growth. Soon, many other cheese-makers adapted pricing to produce their own blue cheeses.



 In 1975 the cheese obteined  Appellation d’origine contrôlée (meaning"controlled designation of origin") certifications from the French government.