The Riff-Raff Element Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 I think I've found it. For anyone living in the South Vendée (orinterested enough to travel), a handmade unpasturised cheese, made onthe farm by GAEC Brémaud at La Sergente, 85420, Maillezais. Absolutelyfantastic. Sort of mature chedder but very creamy. Also sold onFontenay market Saturdays, lady upstairs in the halles, middle row ofstalls, just next to the horse butcher. 12.80€ a kilo, which is a heckof a lot cheaper than a lot of stuff in LeClerc. PM me if anyone wantsmore details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loella Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 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?ThanksA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabina Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted November 19, 2006 Author Share Posted November 19, 2006 [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?ThanksA[/quote]They refer to it as "tome" (which I think is a generic term for apressed, uncooked cheese) de La Petite Laitère du Marais. The "laitère"is just outside Maillezais at La Sergente on the Maillezais / Mailléroad. 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 2979.I'm a big fan of French cheeses in general, but this is somethingexceptional. I'm not connected to them by the way. Well, only insofarasI eat the cheese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loella Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 On my way then next week....goodbye diet...oooh I wish I didn't love the stuff so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucky luke Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted November 19, 2006 Author Share Posted November 19, 2006 [quote user="lucky luke"]Thanks for the recommendation Jon, but canyou please tell me where the halles in Fontenay are? I've visited tehSaturday 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 aredirectly ahead of you. It's the building with the fishmongers,butchers, etc. Our girl is upstairs, behind a mountain of cheese. Sheonly sells the product from this one farm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 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 [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 Don't you men anodised blue? I had blue anodised wheels on my bike once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 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 VendeeThe 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 .............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoverfrog Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 "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 :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athene Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted November 20, 2006 Author Share Posted November 20, 2006 [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 inall regions of France require little milk and do not keep for long butare easy to sell. Etc, etc .......... and then;Tomme de VendeeThe pate and rind of this large artisanal cheese from theAtlantic coast indicate that the methods of production are differentfrom 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 likethis stuff. The texture is more smooth, a bit like guyère. This has acreamy / crumbly texture. What is fun (and you can tell that I don'tget out much) is that each batch tastes a little different: last weekwas 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 [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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vab Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 [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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted November 20, 2006 Author Share Posted November 20, 2006 There are some excellent British cheeses...if one can find them. Theselection in most British supermarkets is pitiful, at least whencompared with what one can buy in France. This is a shame, becausewithout access to markets the small artisianal cheese makers just getswamped by the big boys. Part of the problem is that in the UKsupermarkets want to market stuff on a national basis in the main andsmall producers, by their nature, can't supply enough. The Frenchchains don't seem to have a horror of this and cheerfully sell stuff ona 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athene Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 You obviously do not shop in Waitrose, they have a lovely selection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanche Neige Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Try the farmer's markets and deli's, some pubs even have a deli department these days.[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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