My Cooking and My Garden: Brie and Camembert (Continued)

CHEESES

Varieties of cheeses from soft to hard cheese, what they made and their seasons.

Brillat-Savarin - Cheese made in Normandy which can be eaten all year round.

Brinzen - Hungarian cheese made from fresh ewes' milk, mixed with rennet. It is dried for 10-12 day, kneaded with 3 per cent salt, then put into drums and pressed.

Caccio-Cavallo - Italian cheese made in the region of Naples from skimmed cows' milk, moulded in the shape of gourds and left to dry straddled on sticks. Some Caccio-Cavallo addicts are not satisfied with merely having the cheese dried, but insist on its being smoke-cured as well, as was done at the time of the Romans.
(Smoked cheese is one of my favourites but never try the Caccio-Cavallo)

Cancoillotte - Very strong cheese mixture made in Franche-Comte, which has to be melted before serving. It is in season from September to June.

Cantal-Hard, strong cheese made in Auvergne. It can be eaten the whole year round but is particularly useful from November to May

Carré de Bouneville - Normandy cheese, in-season between September and June.

Chabichou - Poitou cheese, in season from April to December. It is made from goats' milk and is soft and sweet.

Chaource - This cheese, made in the Champagne district, is somewhat similar to Soumaintrain. It is in season from November to May.

Chaumont - Cheese made in the Champagne region which is in season from November to May.

Cheddar - English cheese eaten all the year-round. ( Love cheddar cheese!)

New Larrouse

Cheshire - Hard, cows' milk English cheese made in two colours: red and white. It can be eaten all year round.

Chester - Name by which Cheshire cheese is known in season from December to April.

Cheddar cheese, the only cheese is on our regular shopping list. Love to eat it with crackers and like to add to cooking, especially to prepare the cheese sauce.

Chevrotin -Cheese produced in Savoy. It is made of dried goat' milk and is in season from March to December, The Chevrotins de Moulins are little cheeses made in Bourbonnais.

Coulommiers - This comes into the category of soft cream cheeses. It is made in the Brie district in the neighbourhood of Coulommiers (Seine-et-Marne) and is at its best between November and May.
Coulommiers cheeses are usually eaten fresh, after salting. They may also be processed like Brie, that is to say, kept until they are covered with white mould.
A good Coulommiers must have a white crust with a slight greyish tinge, be creamy to the touch, and slightly yellowish inside.

So far, I learnt as I read, but I never come across some of these cheeses. Surely I know what it Cheddar cheese the only cheese that I am comfortable with, and it's always there for the family.

Cream cheese. Fromage A LA CREME - There several ways of making this cheese. One is to add some cream to the milk before introducing the rennet, another is to make it from skimmed milk worked with fresh cream after draining and put into moulds to complete the drainage.

Cream des Vosges - Alsatian soft cream cheese in season between November and April

Crottin de Charvignol -Semi-hard goats' milk cheese made in Berry, which is in season from May to December

Dauphin - Cheese made in northern France, good between November and May

Demi-sel - Small whole-milk soft cheese somewhat similar to double-cream. The curd, after being drained sieved and put in moulds, has 1 to 1 1/2 per cent salt added to it.

Double-cream. DOUBLE-CREME -French soft cream cheese in which the milk is enriched with added cream, increasing the weight by on - sixth. A small quantity of rennet is mixed with it so that the slow process of coagulation lasts about 24 hours. The curds are moulded and wrapped in waxed paper.

Dunlop - Scottish cheese somewhat similar to Cheshire and Double Gloucester, but which, in the opinion of English gastronomes, is much superior to both. Sir Walter Scott was enthusiastic about this cheese.

Dutch cheeses - There are a great many of these. The best-known, Edam, is made in several European countries and in America. Partly skimmed milk, curdled in 15 to 20 minutes, is mixed with rennet. Fermentation is very low and allowed to continue until a hard, non-porous rind is formed. As soon as the cheese is painted over with a coating of linseed oil. Sometimes it is given a further coating of paraffin, before being coloured with annatto (dye)
Edam cheese is yellow-red when stove-dried, softish and free from holes.

We take Dutch cheese, but we are not too keen, Edam or Gouda are good cheese, however, are not family favourite. Went to visit the Dutch cheese on the farm somewhere not too far from Amsterdam, a long time ago, and of course, we tasted the cheese. It was fun and an excellent experience, actually I forgot what we did there, I remember we ate a few types of cheeses. Just about all.

Emmenthal - Swish hard cheese named after the high Emme Valley (In the Berne Canton), but made in Switzerland whenever there is highland pasture. As the transport of butter from these mountain districts would be uneconomic, Emmenthal cheese is usually made from whole milk. However, in some parts, a semi-fat Emmenthal is made.
The cheese is manufactured in the same way as Gruyère. The round Emmenthal cheeses are larger than Gruyères weighing from 60 to 100kg. (132 to 220 LB) Their rind is straw coloured.
The cheese is creamier than Gruyère, less pungent and usually less salty. It has a good many holes called 'eyes'; usually, three to every bore-hole made.
There is also a French Emmenthal cheese.

It is interesting to know that Emmenthal cheese is creamier than Gruyere, less pungent
and less salty. Winter is coming if you wish to cook French onion soup, use the Emmenthal cheese instead of Gruyere. I believe it is cheaper too.

Epoisses - Whole-milk, mould inoculated, a soft French cheese made in almost every part of Burgundy and in central France. Its name comes from a village on the Côte d'Or.
The milk is curdled with a special rennet, flavoured with black pepper, clove, fennel, salt, and brandy. It is eaten either fresh or ripened.
The cheese is left in cellars to ripen for a longer or shorter time according to whether it is to be eaten Passe (over-ripe) or coulant (runny)
The fresh cheese is eaten in summer; the ripe cheese in winter or spring (November to June)

Every-Cheese from Champagne which is at its best between November and May.

Fin de Siècle - Normandy cheese, which is good to eat all year round.

Fontine - Cheese made in Franche-Comté all the year-round

Fontina - Italian soft creamy cheese used in making fondues in the Val d'Aosta.

Frische Kaas - Soft Dutch cheese in season between November and May.

Fromage a la pie (fresh unfermented cheese) - Usually made from skimmed milk on farms and is for immediate consumption. It can also be made in the home from whole milk. The milk is left to stand in a cool place (12 degrees to 15 degrees C; 53 to 59 F). Curdling takes place at the end of 24 to 36 hours, through the action of the lactic ferment. It can also be made with rennet.
Fromage a la pie is eaten fresh, with fresh cream added. It may be seasoned with sugar, or salt and pepper according to taste, and little-chopped chives for added flavour.

Gex - French blue-veined cheese manufactured at Gex, the principal town of the Ain department, between November and May, from unskimmed whole milk, coagulated in 2 hours at 25 to 27 C (77 degrees to 81 degrees F)
Before it is offered for sale, it is stored for 2 weeks in ripening cellars where its special qualities develop.
The 'blue' which is due to the penicillum glaucum, is self-generating and appears during processing without the aid of any foreign body.
The chief characteristic of Gex cheese, which distinguishes it from all others, is that (except for the blue streaks) it remains pure white. It takes from 2 to 4 months to ripen completely.

Gloucester - Thre are two English cheese of this name: the famous Double Gloucester and Single Gloucester.
Double Gloucester. The shape and size of a large grindstone, it is crumbly in texture and has a strong but mellow and delicate flavour our. It ripens slowly (this process takes about 6 months) and keeps well.
Single Gloucester. Made during spring and summer ripen in about 2 months. It is flat and round, similar to Double Gloucester in shape, and has a soft and open texture. It is excellent for toasting.

Goats' milk cheeses, FROMAGE DE CHEVRE - A wide variety of goats' milk cheese are manufactured throughout France. Occasionally a little cows' milk is added due to the growing scarcity of goats' milk. Goats' milk cheese is usually strongly salted to make it more closely resemble cos' milk cheese (and to preserve it). In fact, many goats' milk cheeses are for too salty.
Although this cheese is usually eaten fresh, it can be preserved in various ways and eaten when very mature. (In the Ardèche it is wrapped in walnut leaves or placed in an earthenware pot)
Among the best known of the goats' milk cheeses are the Banon of Provence, the Cabécou of Quercy, the Chabichou of Poitou, the Chavignol of Berry ('crossings') la Mothe-Saint Héraye, the Levroux, small Mâcons of Burgundy, the Corsican Niolo, the Rigottes of Condrieu, the Rocamadour and Sain-Marcellin of Dauphiné, the Valency, the Sainte-Maure)

I have a simple palate in regards to cheeses, I could not take goat cheeses as they have an extreme taste - almost too goaty. The family loves Goat cheese, particularly our girls.

Gorgonzola - Semi-hard cheese which takes its name from a little village near Milan. It is made by a rather complex process. Good gorgonzola, which is a spring and summer cheese, has a thin rind. The cheese should be streaked with blue, but not excessively, and should be yellowish white in colour.

Pizza with mushroom and
Gorgonzola cheese topping

I do like the Gorgonzola, I baked pizza one day, and the topping was mushroom and Gorgonzola cheese. It worked very well. Place visit the older post and simply type: cooking with Cheese in the search column, and you will find lots of dishes to cook.

Gouda - Dutch cheese made from whole milk, very similar to Cantal but there is no preliminary fermentation.

Gournay - French whole-milk, soft cheese made at Gournay, in Normandy, and in neighbouring districts. At its best between September and June.

Gruyère - The Gruyère valley is situated in the Fribourg Canton, dominated by the Moleson. It has given its name to a cheese which could be economically exported. Nowadays whole milk Gruyères
are also made, especially for exports.
This cheese is often confused with Emmenthal. Sometimes cheesemongers advertise 'a genuine Gruyère from Emmenthal which is like saying 'a genuine Brie from Camembert'!It is made in a round of 50 to 60 kg. (110-130lb). The rind is golden brown. The cheese is waxy more or less dry according to age. It is scored with cracks underneath through which drops of serum ooze out. To satisfy the demands of the French market which expects 'eye's in the cheese, it is processed in such a way for export that little holes appear. These are always smaller than the holes in Emmenthal. The export cheeses are also less salty than those made for local consumption. To enhance the pungent flavour of this excellent cheese, it is usual in Switzerland to preserve the pieces in a cloth soaked unsalted water or white wine.

I love the Gruyère cheese, it is excellent to add in onion soup, especially French onion soup, the cheese is an important part of the ingredients. I cook the soup in the cold days, and I have the recipe for you. For the recipe and the details, please open an older post, type French Onion Soup to search.

My cooking-French Onion Soup

Onion tart with Gruyère is delicious and also to add to the savoury Onion Tartine. You could try your self, as the recipe is not needed here, pretty easy!

Gruyère is manufactured in cheese factories in the mountains, close to the pastures. It keeps for a very long time uncut. Some connoisseurs demand a very ripe cheese, others prefer it reasonably fresh. For fondue (q.v), a mixture of the two kinds is normally required.

Gruyère, Crèame de. For some years now, little triangles of processed cheese have been sold, wrapped in silver paper.
This cheese is made from Comte and sometimes even from Gruyère.
At first, this cheese was produced mainly as a means of using up defective cheeses, but it has gained so much in popularity that it is now manufactured from cheese made especially for the purpose. They are now a great number of processed and packaged cheeses (called creams) made from a variety of basic cheeses.
Their indeterminate flavour does not always appeal to the connoisseur, but their success is easily explained. They are processed and packaged in a convenient and hygienic form, having no rind and leaving no waste.
Gruyère de Comte. A number of Gruyère-type cheeses are made today in countries all over Europe and in America.

Hervé - Soft, fermented cheese. Made in Belgium, from cows'milk, it is curdled with rennet and drained under great pressure in square moulds.
Ripening takes place in dark cellars where the cheeses are placed on their sides, one against the other, covered with cloths steeped in beer.
Thre is a strong and mild variety of Hervé cheese. Best eaten between November and May

Huppemeau - Cheese made at Huppemeau in the Loir-et-Cher region. It is somewhat similar to Brie.

Incheville- Normandy cheese which is in season from November to May

Jonchée - Cheese made from ewes' or goats' milk,. Half the milk is boiled with a few bay leaves. This is mixed with the remainder of the raw milk. It is curdled with rennet and decanted in little pots.

Kummel - Dutch cheese with caraway seeds, which can be eaten all the year-round. It is also called Leidsche Kaas.

(Les) Laumes - This cheese from Burgundy is good between October and July

Leyden - Leyden cheese is made in the same way as Edam. It is often flavoured with cumin, cloves or cinnamon. Some connoisseurs prefer Dutch cheese stove-dried. This makes it less creamy but improves its flavour. Leyden is also known as Leidsche Kaas and Kummel.

Limbourger - Semi-hard, fermented cheese made in Belgium, Alsace and Germany. The whole-milk curds are kneaded with chives, parsley and tarragon, put in moulds and dried in the sun.
The surface is made non-porous by salting and brushing. (it sounds so yummy, must have a look while we are in the Netherlands, it may be available in the Australia market, is it?)

Livarot - A small town in the Calvados region has given its name to a soft paste cheese (usually coloured annatto brown or deep red). This is an autumn and winter cheese.

Manicamp - Picardy cheese is in season between October and July.

Mon Cenis - A large, round, semi-hard, blue-veined, whole-milk cheese somewhere between a Roquefort and Gorgonzola. It ripens in cellars where it acquired its characteristic blue streaks.

Mont d'Or - This cheese, which once had an excellent reputation, used to be made along the banks or the
Saone, round Lyons.
Only the milk of stable-fed goats was used. The cheese was ripened in cellars for 5 to 6 weeks.
The cheese which now bears its name is made all over France, is manufactured from cows' milk and bears a
very little resemblance to the original cheese. The best is made at Mont d'Or. Its season lasts from December to April.

Morbier- Lightly veined goats' milk cheese from Franche-Compté. Good Between October and June.

Munster - Semi-hard, fermented, whole-milk cheese, usually flavoured with caraway or aniseed. Made in Alsace, in the Munster valley (Upper Rhine), it is much prized by lovers of cheese and is good between November and April.

MysÖst - Norwegian cheese which can be eaten all the year-round.

Neufchatel or Bondon - Small French, loa-shaped cheese made from skimmed milk, whole milk or with added cream. It is ripened on straw bundles in a drying room until a skin, white at first and later bluish, forms on the surface (first skin).
The ripening then completed in cool, well-aired storerooms until a second sin forms, this time red in colour. The cheese is a rather dark yellow and is at its best between October and June.

Parmesan - This famous cheese, which keeps for a very long time, is made in Lombardy and in the Romagna under various names. The name 'Parmesan' is used abroad for export cheese of this type. It is made with skimmed milk
During the ripening process, which is very slow, harmful microbes a cause liquid patches in the cheese, which are dealt with by Italian cheese-makers. They test the cheese by tapping it with a hammer. When they detect a sort patch, they open up the cheese, cut out the diseased section and cauterise the 'would[ with a re-hot-iron. The ripening period lasts for nearly 4 years. At the end of this process, the cheese may be kept for a very long time, 20 years or even longer.
Parmesan is a hard cheese which can be eaten all year round. It is golden yellow in colour and should sweat very slightly.

One of the cheeses that are regular on the shopping list is Parmesan. Now, I am glad to know that it's made out of skimmed milk also it kept for a very long time after the long process of making it. In my kitchen, I use it as topping for the pasta dishes, sprinkle for hot soup, add in the egg and mixed with vegetables before frying them. Add in a savoury mixed batter to make cakes or mix with flour to bake cheese scones.

Pardon de Ruoms - goats' cheese made in Ardèche which is in season from May to November.

Petit-suisse - Very creamy, unsalted French cheese of the double-cream type, small and cylindrical in shape. It is the double-cream type, small and cylindrical in shape. It is made from whole milk, with 20 per cent proportion of fresh cream added. In spite of its name, it was first made not in Switzerland but in Gournay in Normandy (Seine-Inférieure).
The Gervais Pettit-Suisse is the best-known make. Manufacturing this cheese is a delicate process, to which the most up-to-date scientific method of production and supervision are applied.

Pithiviers au foin - Cheese made in the Orléans region and ripened on hay. In season from October to May.

Pontgibaud (Puy-de-Dôme) - Made in the same way as Roquefort, but from cows' milk. Eaten all year round except in mid-summer

Port-Salut - A superb creamy, yellow, whole-milk cheese. It was first made at the Trappist Monastery of Port du Salut, near Laval. The nake of Port-Salut was given to it by a company established at Entrammes (Mayenne départment) where it is still made, as well as in Trappist monasteries all over the world, according to a secret formula. It is good throughout the year.

Pultöst - Norwegian mountain far cheese which can be eaten all year round.

Reblochon - Soft cheese made in Savoy. It is made of cows' milk and is in season from October to June.

Récollet de Geradmer - cheese from the Vosges, in season from October to April.

Remondou - Belgian cheese called Fromage piquant in season from November to June.

Rocamandour - This community in the Lot, celebrated for its picturesque setting and its places of pilgrimage has given its name to a very small ewes'milk cheese which is in season from November to May.

Rollot - Cheese in the form of a disc resembling Brie and Camembert, although smaller. It is in season from October to May.

Romalour - Cheese from the Loire district which can be eaten all the year-round.

Roquefort - The true Roquefort cheese, made in the little town of that name in the Sain- Affrique district (Aveyron), is manufactured exclusively from ewes' milk, sheep being the only animals which can subsist of the arid pastures of the Causses. Corsica exports a large number of cheeses to the Causses to the 'treated' in the caves there.
The unique feature of this cheese is that the curds are mixed with a special type of breadcrumb. The bread is dried and then ground to a fine dust, in which a special greenish mould is allowed to develop. To ensure the right condition for ripening, the cheeses are stored in damp, cool caves (4 degrees to 8 degrees C., 40 degrees F t 47 degrees F), such as the natural which are to be found in the Causses region.
After 30 or 40 days, the cheese is ready for sale, but before it takes on the pungent flavour which makes it so sought after by the connoisseur, it must be left to ripen for a month-long period. In fact, in the view of the experts, it should be kept for a year.
A good Roquefort has a grey rind. The cheese is yellowish, very fatty and evenly veined with blue. If it is too white in appearance and chalky in texture, it is not completely fermented.
The Roquefort season lasts from May to September, but it is eaten all the year-round. A number of different districts in France produce a Roquefort-type cheese, but these may not be sold under the name of Roquefort.

Rouennais - Normandy cheese which is in season from October to May.

Rougeret - Small goat's cheese made near Mâcon. Is also known under the name of Macconet.
(The information of this cheeses is based on New Larousse Gastronomique)

I have been using a variety of cheeses in my cooking and also the family love eating them as they are from soft cheese-Brie, Camembert, and the hard cheese such as Parmesan to add to pasta dishes and so forth.

Cooking Soup with Cheese.
French onion soup is delicious, I retrieved the recipe from the old post to make it easy for you.

O n I o n - S o u p

French Onion Soup

It is so delicious, easy to cook.

Recipe:
4 cups beef broth
1 large onion, sliced thinly
1 cloves garlic, thyme

leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon brandy
2 tablespoons of
caramelised onion
(look up my last post)
salt and pepper to taste
120 g Gruyere cheese
16 thin slices of baguettes

Follow step by step how to do below: