An Education in French Cheese

French cheese is renown and also quite complex to understand. Karl and I had many questions for Jean-Paul and Claude about cheese production, marketing, etc, and we were progressively getting closer to understanding the particularities of cheeses with protected, or trademarked, names. To further cement our learning we headed into the Beaufortin region to learn about Beaufort cheese. First we drove up to the Col de Joly where we got a view of Mont Blanc (albeit a bit cloud-covered) and ate a delicious picnic lunch, before heading to the Cooperative where they make Beaufort cheese. We visited the (stinky!) cellars where the cheese is aged as well as the interpretive centre to learn more about the whole process. We left with some fresh Beaufort cheese to taste at dinner, among other delicious ongoing culinary discoveries.Read more