The French cheeses

La Fourme D’ambert : The production area is located at an altitude of 600 to 1600 metres. To make one wheel of Fourme d’Ambert you need: around 20 litres of milk a minimum of 4 weeks to ripen the cheese. Fourme d’Ambert is the mildest blue cheese... and one of the rare «lady» cheeses. It combines this mildness with a smooth texture encased in a white and grey rind.

Saint-Nectaire: The production area is located at an altitude of 1000 metres. To make one wheel of Saint-Nectaire you need: 13 to 14 litres of milk raw milk, mandatory for the farm variety, which is immediately processed after each milking 4 to 8 weeks are necessary to ripen the cheese. It is regularly washed with salt water. There are two varieties of Saint-Nectaire: fermier (farm): green oval label laitier (dairy): green square label

Salers: only manufactured in the summer when the cows graze in their summer pastures (from the 15th of April to 15th of November). Only 80 producers practise this ancestral tradition, which implies a simple and rustic lifestyle on the slopes of volcanoes. They must use a wooden recipient, called a «gerle», to process the milk. It is primordial to develop the unique flavours of the Salers cheese. To make one wheel of Salers you need: 400 litres of milk Cheese making takes place twice a day, immediately after the cows have been milked, as the milk cannot be stored in a refrigerator.

Abondance Abondance is a semi-hard, fragrant, raw-cows milk cheese, produced exclusively from milk produced by the Abondance breed of cows, from the Abondance Commune in the Haute-Savioe

Beaufort Here is a cheese that has not lost its nickname as « Prince of the Gruyères » . While its name did not emerge until the 19th century, its origins date to Roman times. Its characteristics: a concave heel, fruity flavour and delicate aromas awarded with a registered designation of origin (AOC) in 1968. This star of the cheeseboard is also a key ingredient in many recipes, including fondu, of course, as well as soufflée.

chevrotin The rare goat cheese in the middle of the plate almost seems like an outsider. And yet, in the 17th century, evry mountain dweller had a few goats because they were a guaranteed source of meat and suet for candle making. This small cheese with a white rind and a delicate white interior earned its AOC in 2002. Its production zone is limited to four massifs: Mont-Blanc, Chablais, Aravis and Bauges.

Emmental de Savoie A DRY, STURDY RIND PROTECTS A BRIGHT CHEESE THAT IS THICK AND CREAMY WITH A MILD FLAVOUR. WITH ITS IMPRESSIVE DIMENSIONS, EMMENTAL DE SAVOIE IS A MEMBER OF THE GRUYÈRE FAMILY. MADE IN THE SAVOYARD FORECOUNTRY, EACH WHEEL WEIGHS NEARLY 70 KG AND REQUIRES OVER 1,000 LITRES OF MILK. OFTEN SHREDDED FOR CONSUMPTION, IT IS ALSO ONE OF THE INGREDIENTS IN THE CELEBRATED FONDUE SAVOYARDE.

Tamié WITH A LARGE BLUE MALTESE CROSS EMBLAZONED ON ITS PACKAGING, THIS CHEESE IS EASY TO SPOT. SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN THE REBLOCHON, TO WHICH IT BEARS A RESEMBLANCE, THIS CHEESE WITH A SUBTLE, FRUITY FLAVOUR HAS BEEN MADE BY THE TRAPPIST MONKS AT THE TAMIÉ ABBEY FOR NEARLY 900 YEARS.

Raclette de Savoie ITS NAME UNFAILINGLY CONJURES UP IMAGES OF WINTER NIGHTS SPENT WITH FRIENDS AFTER A DAY OF SKIING. HOWEVER, IN THE MIDDLE AGES, SHEPHERDS WERE ALREADY EATING "ROASTED CHEESE". THE TERM "RACLETTE" APPEARED IN 1874. IT IS TRUE THAT THE PARTICULARLY PLIANT, CREAMY TEXTURE OF RACLETTE DE SAVOIE MAKES IT THE IDEAL CHEESE TO CONSUME MELTED.

Reblochon This small cheese with a saffron-coloured rind and creamy interior was born in the Thônes valley in the 13th century. Its AOC was awarded in 1958 and it is always produced above an altitude of 500 m, in Haute-Savoie and in the Val d’Arly in Savoy. Delicately arranged on its thin circle of spruce, it can be eaten all year round, but preferably in the spring and summer when the cows graze in high mountain pastures.

Abondance A VALLEY, A COW, A CHEESE! IN THE MIDDLE AGES, THE MONKS OF THE ABONDANCE MONASTERY CLEARED THE LAND IN THE CHABLAIS VALLEY AND CHOSE THE COW BREED THAT WOULD RESULT IN THIS SUCCULENT CHEESE. IT MET WITH RAPID SUCCESS, FOR ABONDANCE CHEESE WAS SERVED AT THE POPE'S TABLE WHEN HE WAS ELECTED IN AVIGNON IN 1381. WITH ITS PLIABLE TEXTURE AND MILD HAZELNUT FLAVOUR, IT WINS OVER EVERY GOURMET.

Tome des Bauges NO, THERE IS NO SPELLING ERROR; THE TOME DES BAUGES HAS ONLY ONE "M". WHY? SIMPLY BECAUSE IN SAVOY DIALECT, "TOMA" MEANS "CHEESE MADE IN HIGH MOUNTAIN PASTURES". WITH ITS LOVELY, SLIGHTLY MOULDED RIND, THIS IS THE RUSTIC, CONVIVIAL CHEESE TO SHARE IN A SIMPLE SETTING OR TO PULL OUT OF YOUR RUCKSACK FOR A MID-RAMBLE SNACK.

Tomme de Savoie THIS IS A VERY OLD CHEESE, WHICH FARMERS USED TO MAKE IN THE WINTER WHEN THE COWS STAYED IN THE STABLE. WITH JUST A FEW LITRES OF MILK, EACH FARM PREPARED ITS BUTTER, CREAM AND TOMME TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE FAMILY. TODAY THERE ARE MANY VARIETIES: MOUNTAIN TOMME, CREAMY TOMME, MITE TOMME...EACH OF THEM HARBOURS A UNIQUE AROMA AND TASTE UNDER ITS GREY RIND.

The french blue cheese Bleu d'Auvergne has a strong taste, but to a lesser extent than other blue cheeses; it is less salted, with a creamier and more buttery taste and a moister texture. It is made from cow's milk, and is one of the cheeses granted the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée from the French government .