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 I adore French cheeses. I cannot keep the secret any longer… my favorite cheese (this week) is the French roquefort Gabriel Coulet Cosse Noir. This cheese – probably the world’s greatest blue cheese – truly is tenderness poured into a rock. I’m not kidding, either. Gabriel Coulet is produced entirely from the milk of the ewes that feed on the vast plateaus found in the Aveyron. It is the quality of the milk, the processing of the curd, the adding of “penicillium roqueforti” and finally the ripening in natural caves that give us this unique and remarkable French cheese. The taste is complex, but quite outstanding… soft, creamy, slightly salty, with an after taste that leaves the palate craving for more.
Ahhh, but I digress. Recently I had the true honor of meeting a fellow cheese lover and a French Colonel (for all roads due lead to MacDill, didn’t you know?). Monsieur and I had a good hour-long cheese chat, sampling cheeses from all over the globe starting in France with the famous Brillat Savarin, Comte and Fromage D’Affinois. From there we ventured all over Europe – Ubriaco al Prosecco from Lombardy, Cahill’s Irish Porter from Limerick, Cana de Cabra from Murcia. I was most impressed with Monsieur’s experience with cheese, but what caught me by surprise was his delight with American artisanal cheeses. Where I wonder and fuss over the miracles of French penicillin, Monsieur fell hard for the Purple Haze from Mary Keene’s California creamery. More and more I am discovering that cheese has power, a miraculous “je ne sais quoi” that can really unite us.
Case in point: Happy Birthday to Datz for one great year, and Happy 100th Birthday to France’s premier cheese store, Androuet.
Tags: Aveyron, Brillat Savarin, Cahill Irish Porter, Cana de Cabra, Comte and Fromage D’Affinois, Datz Deli, Gabriel Coulet Cosse Noire, Limerick, Mary Keene, Murcia, Purple Haze, Ubriaco al Prosecco
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