Although it will soon be two years since I started this supposed French cuisine column, I have slyly and scrupulously avoided mentioning the unavoidable: fromage (cheese). Shame on me.

I have long been convinced that fromage, alongside vin (wine) and charcuterie (sausage), is one of the three sacred treasures that modern France can brag righteously about to the rest of the world. Forget the national slogan "liberte, egalite and fraternite (liberty, equality and fraternity)," which seems increasingly obsolete these days.

If I haven't spoken about fromage, the creme de la creme of the nation's gastronomy, it's only because the world of French cheese is too important and big a subject to take lightly -- for it is generally said that there are roughly 300 sorts of cheese in France, without counting locally limited varieties produced in different regions.

After several years of living in France, it still fascinates me to stand in front of the wonderful displays at fromagers (specialized cheese shops). The French's miraculous art of transforming milk into a wide range of beautiful delicacies holds me in awe.

So how can one choose cheese wisely? Trying to give comprehensive advice in such a short space would be blasphemous, so I hope you will be content with these few tips:

Vache, Chevre or Brebis? : Roughly speaking, cheese is produced from the milk of cows, goats or ewes, and thus, there are three main varieties, which all taste different.

As any cheese has a distinctive taste, you should try as many types as possible, without fear or favor. I stubbornly shun chevre cheese because of its strong smell of raw grass, but have a weakness for Maroille and Munster, notorious cows' milk cheeses with a whiff of "dirty socks." Everyone has a favorite type of cheese, find yours.

Pasteurise or Nonpasteurise? : I used to be happy to buy creamy and soft Caprice des Dieux or Coeur du Lion, which can be found in Japan. One day, a French friend of mine laughed at me for I was eating "shams," inauthentic industrial products without a unique flavor or aroma that have nothing to do with "authentic" cream cheeses.

AOC Label: The French abbreviation for Appellation d'Origine Controlee (French Label of Origin), is a certification that guarantees the quality of products made within a specified region, and by traditional methods. With the system, the production of cheese -- such as the milk used and the region of collection as well as the maturation length -- is strictly regulated by a control commission. For example, the world-famous Camembert can bear such honorable appellation only when the cheese is produced in the Normandy village of the same name with locally collected cows' milk -- which means, there is no such product as "Hokkaido Camembert," in strict terms.

Today, there are 41 AOC cheeses in France. The first cheese that was awarded AOC status in 1926 was Roquefort, the famous "king of blues," matured in the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in southern France.

Fermier : Literally meaning "farm-made" in French, the farmhouse fermier cheeses are considered to be the best even among AOC-labeled products, because they are produced in small quantities by skilled artisans. Try them.

Pain : In Japan, cheese is often served and consumed by itself. In France, it's inseparable from pain (bread), just like a couple in love. They are always together.

Storage: When Dominique, the gourmet brother of my French companion once came to the house, he scolded me for keeping cheese in the refrigerator. According to him, unpasteurized cheese is alive so it has to continue to ripen in the right ambience until it can be fully tasted. Well, if you really can't stand the smell, then keep it refrigerated. However, you should take it out at least two to three hours before serving.

I'd welcome any comments or opinions, in Japanese or English, about my column. You can write or fax me at The Weekly, or e-mail me at jtweekly@japantimes.co.jp

The Japan Times Weekly: March 25, 2006
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