The aged and washed-rind Reblochon is a favorite winter cheese, enjoyed melted over the regional potato tart known as “Tartiflette”, and boasting a deliciously creamy and intense quality. Its intensely flavorful mountain tommes (pressed and aged cheeses with a semisoft texture) include Tomme de Savoie and Tome de Bauge. Home to seven protected-label regional cheeses, all made with raw cow’s milk, Savoie is perhaps best known for its mild, nutty Emmental, a favorite among all ages. The Alpine region of Savoie isn’t only famous for its world-class ski slopes: its traditional cheeses are also coveted, making it an important destination for gourmets as well as outdoor enthusiasts. The result? Fresh, pure-tasting cheeses that are genuinely healthy. Even though most aren’t technically organic, the cheeses are produced by feeding pure grass to the animals that supply the milk. You may also want to try the Ty Pavez, a specialty made from cow’s milk, pressed and aged with both seaweed and seawater.īrittany, a deeply agricultural region with plenty of land for grass pastures, is also renowned for its excellent sheep’s and goat’s cheeses. There are many other varieties made and sold around Brittany, perfect paired with bread, white wines and even fresh oysters. The Tomme du Nevet is particularly distinctive, as some varieties are aged with seaweed for an unusual flavour. The Finistere area is especially well known for their tommes, semi-hard cheeses made from raw cow’s milk that tend to melt in your mouth and are aged for several months. This is an intense, aromatic cheese with strong notes of hay and wheatgrass: a true gastronomic discovery.īrittany also makes some interesting regional cheeses, lesser known to most tourists. Other interesting cheeses from Normandy include Pont l’Eveque and Neufchatel, more cow’s milk cheeses whose mildness will please most palates and Livarot, made in the town of the same name near Calvados and aged for six months at a time. Whether served with bread, fruit and wine or baked with red fruits or truffles, this is a cheese that even those who may be anxious to try raw-milk cheeses will enjoy. Most famous among Norman cheeses is the Camembert de Normandie, a wonderfully versatile yet subtly complex cheese that’s traditionally made with raw cow’s milk, and is most delicious when left to ripen for a while. While the regions of Normandy and Brittany are quite distinctive, with individual cultures and traditions that are entirely their own, we’re including them together since the two regions are adjacent to one another and can both be easily visited on the same private French food tour. Specialities to try here include Brie with pistachios and Mont d’Or laced with heady truffles. Owned by Marie Quatrehomme, the first woman to win the “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” prize (best craftsman of the year) for her superb artisanal creations, the shop is a true delight. One we especially recommend is the Fromagerie Quatrehomme, one of the most renowned cheesemongers in France, and supplier to numerous prestigious restaurants in the capital. In Paris proper, cheesemaking isn’t carried out on a large scale these days, but the capital does house numerous exceptional shops where cheese tastings are de rigueur.

Other cheeses native to the Ile de France region include Coulommiers, a large round made with cow’s milk that resembles Camembert but offers a slightly nuttier flavor, and Fontainebleau, a dense, sweet, light cheese made with a combination of cow’s milk and fresh, whipped cream. While some pseudo-Bries do exist, make sure you taste only the genuine ones, made in Meaux or Melun. Perhaps the most accessible-and globally successful-French cheese, Brie is a mild, intensely buttery cheese with a fresh taste that pairs beautifully with grapes, apples and other fruit, and is also divine eaten plain with a bit of crusty baguette. Just 25 miles northeast of central Paris are the towns of Meaux and Melun, both famous for their centuries-old tradition of producing Brie. As one of France’s-and the globe’s-shining gastronomic capitals, it’s little wonder that Paris and the surrounding Ile de France region is lauded for producing some of France’s best and most well-known cheeses.

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