The Ideal Cheese

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I think I've found it. For anyone living in the South Vendée (or

interested enough to travel), a handmade unpasturised cheese, made on

the farm by GAEC Brémaud at La Sergente, 85420, Maillezais. Absolutely

fantastic. Sort of mature chedder but very creamy. Also sold on

Fontenay market Saturdays, lady upstairs in the halles, middle row of

stalls, just next to the horse butcher. 12.80€ a kilo, which is a heck

of a lot cheaper than a lot of stuff in LeClerc. PM me if anyone wants

more details.

[loella]

Very close to us, can you give me the name of the cheese and also where it can be bought apart from the market at Fontenay?

Thanks

A

[Sabina]

For me it has to be Brebis!

Now back in UK and none to be found in local supermarket - even Asda have stopped selling Spanish Mangego.

Oh to be back in France.

Sabina

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="annie"]

Very close to us, can you give me the name of the cheese and also where it can be bought apart from the market at Fontenay?

Thanks

A

[/quote]

They refer to it as "tome" (which I think is a generic term for a

pressed, uncooked cheese) de La Petite Laitère du Marais. The "laitère"

is just outside Maillezais at La Sergente on the Maillezais / Maillé

road. Open to the public (according to the leaflet I picked up): Weds,

Thurs & Sat 10.30-12.30, Friday 15.00-18.00. Telephone 02 51 87 29

79.

I'm a big fan of French cheeses in general, but this is something

exceptional. I'm not connected to them by the way. Well, only insofaras

I eat the cheese.

[loella]

On my way then next week....goodbye diet...oooh I wish I didn't love the stuff so much!

[lucky luke]

Thanks for the recommendation Jon, but can you please tell me where the halles in Fontenay are? I've visited teh Saturday market, but must be walking around blind!

Many thanks

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="lucky luke"]

Thanks for the recommendation Jon, but can

you please tell me where the halles in Fontenay are? I've visited teh

Saturday market, but must be walking around blind!

Many thanks

[/quote]

Very easy to find: come into the market square and stand outside the

"Pinky" restaurant. Turn your back on the resto and the halles are

directly ahead of you. It's the building with the fishmongers,

butchers, etc. Our girl is upstairs, behind a mountain of cheese. She

only sells the product from this one farm.

[Cassis]

Thanks for the cheese recommendation, Jon - shame it's not nearer to home!  When so many cheeses are simply anodyne and hardly worth the eating, it's good to know a winner in advance!

[cooperlola]

I take it you have not visited the cheese man in Mamers market on Mondays?  Great bloke, always has a good selection and you can try before you buy so you always know the winners in advance.

[Miki]

Have you tried the anodyne blue, Soz ? Wicked man......................

If I go to taste cheese, I take two doorstop slices of bread and ask the lady to put a nice slab in the middle, if I like it, I will buy but if it is not that good, well, it has still sorted lunch out [;-)]

[Dick Smith]

Don't you men anodised blue? I had blue anodised wheels on my bike once.

[Cassis]

Thanks for the tip, Coops.  I have to confess that we tend to go to Alençon more, because it is a bit closer (10 mins v. 15 mins) but we do go to Mamers occasionally so I'll look out for him.

I'm always unsure as to how many it is acceptable to try before it starts looking like you're taking the Miki. [:D]

I need some Anadin after Dick's bit of wordplay.

[Gardian]

From my (as in, I own it, rather than wrote it) French Cheeses book;

Small cheeses made on small farms are generally called tommes or tomes, the spelling varying between the two forms. The names probably derive from Greek tomos and Latin tomus, meaning a slice or piece.  These cheeses, which may be found in all regions of France require little milk and do not keep for long but are easy to sell.  Etc, etc .....

..... and then;

Tomme de Vendee

The pate and rind of this large artisanal cheese from the Atlantic coast indicate that the methods of production are different from those of the AOC goat's milk cheeses of the Loire Valley.  The taste of salt is quite strong and the flavour is partly due to the affinage of one-and-a-half months.

Not sure if this is anything like your one Jon?

All this talk of cheese has made me peckish ..............

[hoverfrog]

"Small cheeses made on small farms are generally called tommes or tomes, the spelling varying between the two forms. The names probably derive from Greek tomos and Latin tomus, meaning a slice or piece. These cheeses, which may be found in all regions of France require little milk and do not keep for long but are easy to sell. Etc, etc ....."

this is true - there is tomme sold at our local markets in Limousin, and it's always very good :)

[Miki]

In the Doo Don we had some wonderful home made cheese from the local market that an ingenue would sell us at a nice price. I remember her telling us just how much her place was inspected before being allowed to sell to the public. Is that still the case ? It's just that I see cheese being put up for sale on the internet and sometimes in small markets, I see someone with a small table selling cheese.

[Dick Smith]

I once had a brilliant cheese made in, of all places, Gevrey-Chambertin. Apparently it really doesn't travel, so isn't sold much outside of the burg.

[Athene]

There are lots and lots of wonderful British cheeses as well! I bought  Cornish Yarg this weekend! It is a moist cheese from Cornwall with a fresh, creamy taste and a quality all of its own - derived from the hand-applied covering of nettles.  A great-looking, great-tasting and - let's say it again - a unique cheese.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Ian Horn"]

From my (as in, I own it, rather than wrote it) French Cheeses book;

Small cheeses made on small farms are generally called tommes or tomes, the spelling varying between the two forms. The names probably derive from Greek tomos and Latin tomus,

meaning a slice or piece.  These cheeses, which may be found in

all regions of France require little milk and do not keep for long but

are easy to sell.  Etc, etc .....

..... and then;

Tomme de Vendee

The pate and rind of this large artisanal cheese from the

Atlantic coast indicate that the methods of production are different

from those of the AOC goat's milk cheeses of the Loire Valley. 

The taste of salt is quite strong and the flavour is partly due to the affinage of one-and-a-half months.

Not sure if this is anything like your one Jon?

All this talk of cheese has made me peckish ..............

[/quote]

Hi Ian - I've had tomme de Vendée in the past, but it's nothing like

this stuff. The texture is more smooth, a bit like guyère. This has a

creamy / crumbly texture. What is fun (and you can tell that I don't

get out much) is that each batch tastes a little different: last week

was cheshire-like, this week is chedder gone mad.

Wasn't "yarg" named for the family that made it first back in the 1980's i.e. the grays?

[Miki]

[quote user="Athene"]

There are lots and lots of wonderful British cheeses as well! I bought  Cornish Yarg this weekend! It is a moist cheese from Cornwall with a fresh, creamy taste and a quality all of its own - derived from the hand-applied covering of nettles.  A great-looking, great-tasting and - let's say it again - a unique cheese.

[/quote]

Lots...lots!...Athene, the British are the Masters of cheese, overall, rarely bettered and wonderful at the art of continually inventing new cheeses.

[Dick Smith]

I realise in reading this thread that I am as but an ingenue in the matter of cheese! I only discovered Petit Breton last year...

[vab]

Yes that is correct ! It is named after the family that started making it years ago. I used to live in Cornwall about five miles from the small family factory and one of my daughters, while at college, used to earn cash by picking the nettles and was paid by weight. Trust me, nettles weigh very little so many, many bags had to be filled and she went in all weathers.

[Miki]

[quote user="Dick Smith"]I realise in reading this thread that I am as but an ingenue in the matter of cheese! I only discovered Petit Breton last year...

[/quote]

I found her Sister, Gros-Marie Breton, very ingenue herself but, nice enough, especially on toast.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

There are some excellent British cheeses...if one can find them. The

selection in most British supermarkets is pitiful, at least when

compared with what one can buy in France. This is a shame, because

without access to markets the small artisianal cheese makers just get

swamped by the big boys. Part of the problem is that in the UK

supermarkets want to market stuff on a national basis in the main and

small producers, by their nature, can't supply enough. The French

chains don't seem to have a horror of this and cheerfully sell stuff on

a very local basis.

Neal's Yard Dairy in Covent Graden used to have a fantastic selection, but it wasn't cheap.Is it still there?

[Athene]

You obviously do not shop in Waitrose, they have a lovely selection!

[Blanche Neige]

Try the farmer's markets and deli's, some pubs even have a deli department these days.[:)]