Stunning scenery, history, culture and its diverse food offering are just some of the reasons behind Europe’s popularity as a holiday destination. In France alone, it’s worth dedicating time to explore its many regions where you will also find some of the best cheeses in the world.
Normandy is home to four important cheeses – Camembert de Normandie – one of the crown jewels of French gastronomy, Neufchâtel PDO – a cheese often heart-shaped with a bright white, downy rind that browns as it matures, Pont-l’Evêque PDO, a soft-ripened, washed-rind cheese with a pronounced farmyard aroma and Livarot PDO, one of Normandy’s oldest cheeses.
Beautiful and varied in landscape, Brittany offers wooded countryside, moors and river valleys shaped by the tides. Worth a try here is Saint-Paulin, defined by law as a semi-hard uncooked, pressed cheese made with cow’s milk and originally produced by the Trappist monks of Saint- Paulin.
If you are travelling through the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, take a trip to Lyon (UNESCO World Heritage) which is France’s culinary capital. As well as its many restaurants, you can also discover the region’s cheeses which include Abondance PDO an earthy hard cheese with notes of hazelnuts and fruits, and Cantal PDO which, depending on its maturity, can range from softly textured with a buttery taste to almost crumbly with intense flavours. Beaufort PDO has fruity taste and creaminess that is highly prized and it is a very distinctive cheese without being strong. Tomme de Savoie PGI is the oldest of all Savoie cheeses. With a straightforward taste and delicate, subtle flavors that vary according to the level of maturity and the seasons. The younger a Tomme is, the milder its taste becomes, with a hint of tang; the older it gets, the more typical, powerful and rustic its taste becomes.
For a region known for its wines, the Burgundy-Franche-Comté do
If you are going to try Comté PDO, one of France’s foremost PDO cheeses, here is the place to do so. A lesser-known but important cheese from the region is Bleu de Gex PDO or Bleu de Septmoncel. One of the milder of the salty blue cheeses, its beige and light brown rind is created by regular brushing, you can also identify from the engraving of Gex on the outer rind.
