It would be easy, in spotting a downy, barrel-shaped Chaource, to confuse it for double-cream Brillat-Savarin. I’ll admit I’ve done it several times before, and Lionel Dosne of the Ferme des Tourelles quickly reassures me I’m not the only one.
Fourme d’Ambert AOP – sliced into its characteristic rounds, Fourme d’Ambert should reveal a creamy, ivory color and a uniquely soft, unctuous texture that veers almost towards chewiness.
Neufchâtel isn’t well-known outside of Normandy, as little is produced: about 1700 tons per year, as compared to 60000 tons of Camembert.
“While we love Maroilles, with its assertive aroma and bite, it can be a tough one to wrap your head around, at first.”
No one makes plans, which means everyone has got time on their hands. Time to visit, time to eat. Time to sleep if you want to. Sunday in France is a time for everyone to just ‘be’, which often means ‘being’ together. I think that I’m starting to like it.
You’ve just been invited over for lunch at a French family’s house. But there’s no need to fear. The answers to all of your questions are here… as well as some you didn’t even know you had!
To remember this distance and the constance of friendship, regardless of how long it’s been since your paths have crossed, seems to add a touch more humanity to the technology-driven lives we’re all leading, and it’s something that I’ve found the French do particularly well.
“You’re so… nationalistic,” he said. “Patriotic,” I corrected, but the comment stuck with me and made me think a lot about what differences outsiders really notice once they get a taste of a new culture.
Just because I was in a country that called Thanksgiving ‘American Christmas’ was no reason for me to miss the traditions of pie and turkey, and so I started my own traditions… not without a few hiccups along the way.
Worst of all, upon my first morning in France, my host father tried to give me the bise, I recoiled in surprise. Every morning thereafter, when he made his morning bise rounds around the breakfast table, he offered me a firm handshake, which made me feel all the more ridiculous.