Le Saint Morgon

Président's Saint Morgon is a cheese which mold layer is removed. During the ripening process, the cheese is turned over every day and washed with lukewarm salty water. Thanks to this procedures Le Saint Morgon has a beautiful light surface and its texture resembles the surface of an orange peel. It has a rich flavor and a very soft and creamy texture.Of course, I have eaten better cheeses but this one is not bad at all.

Saint Agur ( Monts du Velay)

I was so happy to notice St. Agur during my last shopping trip. I love blue cheeses so any new product is very welcome. Saint Agur has a quite short history, as it was created in 1988 in the volcanic region of Mont de Valey by Beauzac's master cheese makers. Their goal was to combine  a creamy texture with the subtle taste of a fruity blue.

St. Agur is matured for at least 80 days and final product in octagonal shape weights between 4-5 lb. Then the cheese is packaged in aluminum paper and it continues maturing  until we can enjoy it.

I like St. Agur. It has all of the characteristics which make the cheese tasty to me: it has strong, distinctive flavor coming from blue veins, it is salty, buttery and spreadable - perfect to enjoy on a slice of rye bread.

But still I enjoy more Blue Stilton or Roquefort.

Recipe: Crab Loaf with Saint Agur

Belletoile Triple Cream Brie (Henri Hutin) / Double Creme Brie Cheese (France)

I even don't remember when was  the last time I bought that cheese. Belletoile Triple Cream is a spreadable cheese that is buttery, luscious  rich and mellow in flavor. But when I'm thinking about brie my first choice is always Traditional French Brie. And when I crave for a triple creme cheese I choose between Saint Andre and  Le Delice de Bourgogne. Belletoile Triple Cream is  too salty to my taste and not as satisfying as I would expect from triple creme cheese.

Another brie which is little disappointing to my (spoiled) taste buds is Double Creme Brie Cheese. Just ordinary brie, plain and forgettable. 

Le Petit Crème (France)

I totally agree with the description from a label. Amazing cheese!

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!

Goat's milk cheese -chèvre

In my humble opinion, goat cheese made in USA is as good as  French original. I have a problem with American cheeses. I believe there are plenty great domestic cheeses, but are not available. It's much easier to buy famous European cheese than domestic high quality product.

 Chèvre flavor is not sophisticated, which makes it a perfect pair with other food. Rarely I eat chèvre with bread, but I use it very often to improve the taste of meats, salads, casseroles or desserts.

Recipe: Turkey Tenderloins with Wattle Seed Chevre.

Trader's Joe offers goat cheese logs flavored with fruit like cranberries or blueberries.



I have noticed  TJ's brand fresh goat cheeses with added honey or olives, but I have never bought them. I like neither honey nor olives.

Blueberry Vanilla Chevre

Chocolate Stout Cake with Blueberry Vanilla Chevre recipe (photo below):

My recipes with goat cheese.

Ile de France Bûchette, known for its mild, fresh curd, is made high in the Rhône Alps. I won this cheese in the Chef’s Weekly Basket Sweepstakes a year ago. Very tasty. They offer original and  flavored goat cheeses in two sizes: 10.5 oz and 4 oz. (Petite Bûche). 

La Bûchette with garlic and fresh herbs

I have also tried chèvre cheese medallions. The one with paprika powder didn't bring me to my knees.


 But pistachios and garlic chevre is my favorite combination.


I left the best chèvre cheese at the end. Montchevre’s fresh goat cheese Crottin is absolutely the most delicious fresh goat's cheese I have ever eaten. I wish I could try their other products (http://www.montchevre.com/). It is also  domestic made cheese, even if it looks like French product and the  founder and president of Montchevre has French roots (Arnaud Soland).

Montchevre Crottin Leeks recipe:

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.

Goat's Milk Creamy Cheese and Brie (TJ's brand)

Delicious, smooth, satiny spreadable cheese from France. I had eaten other similar cheeses : one was also French, and another was produced in Poland, but they were tart and not so delicate like this one.

Another excellent cheese is a small goat's milk brie. Fresh has strong skin, stiff interior with small holes and mild flavor. I usually keep it in my fridge for week or or two until it is matured. When ripened, the interior melts, skin breaks easily, flavor and smell  are very intensive. Perfect!

Roquefort(Midi- Pyrenées, Averyon)

According to the legend, Roquefort came being in the caves where a shepherd  enchented by a beautiful girl left his lunch: milk and bread. The shepherd was looking for the girl for a few days without success. To make the matter worse, he found his meal covered in mold. He was to hungry to resist eating his rotten lunch,  and to his suprise, he found it delicious.

Legendary shepard's meal was declared by Charlemagne his favorite cheese; then in 1411 Charles IV signed a charter giving the inhibitants of the southern French village of Roquefort in Aveyron: "  the privilege to mature the cheeses as it has always been done in the caves of the aforementioned village".

 Roquefort is made from raw milk of Lacaune sheep - the only breed which can survive in severe mountain climate. The cheese is matured only in the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, where it develops its piquant, salty, strong flavor and intensive aroma. Mature Roquefort is ivory in color, litlle crumbly and full of mold traces.

St. André ( Coutances, Normandy)

St. André is coated with a satiny, edible rind which hides a rich (up to 70% butterfat) center.  I don't like butter but the cheese flavor is more complex and  I can't help from eating St. André from time to time. It's delicious with sourdough bread, dried fruit and nuts. Much better than any sweet dessert. No gilt at all.



Recipe with Saint Andre: Rice Stuffed Green Shells Mussels

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.

Normandy Camembert (Basse-Normandie/Département Calavados)

Normandy Camembert is extremely tasty. I’ve eaten it only three times so far but I do remember how delicious it is . I love the lightly waved rind, so delicate and thin -almost transparent. The mass is white or yellow, soft and just a little  runny. The more ripened the softer, smoother and more elastic it is.




According to the General meeting Constitutive of the Trade union of the Manufacturers of Genuine Camembert cheese of Normandy the Camembert de Normandie is :  a soft cheese, with spontaneous draining, neither cooked, neither pressed, nor mixed, with curd not divided, slightly salted, with surface molds, of round form, a weight of 350g, a maximum diameter from 10 to 11 cm, containing at least 40g of fat content for 100g, made with pure milk of Normandy.
Even the cheese is 200 years old it didn't obtained the AOC (controlled designation of origin) until 1983. Due to its popularity it was the most copied soft cheese in the history.

Délice de Bourgogne (Burgundy)

Délice de Bourgogne has silky, whipped butter- like interior. The flavor is little salty and sour. The cheese is so rich (75% butterfat in dry matter) and delightful due to addition of French famous specialty-creme fraiche. Molded in the thin pungent rind is perfect combination of delicacy and maturity.
It is said that this sumptuous and elegant cheese pairs well with champagne. For me hard cider is good enough and what is more important I can afford it.

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.