Au revoir France's family-produced cheeses

[Gifted Gourmet]

from the Independent UK

"There is no longer the will among younger people to keep up the small-farm traditions. Farming is associated with struggle, with ignorance, with failure. And yet the old peasants, and the old peasant cheese-makers, knew many things.  France holds the small farmer in contempt. Everything is done to encourage small farmers to abandon the land and, with them, goes part of our patrimony of cheese."Everything is done to encourage people to buy standard cheeses, cheese with a uniform, predictable taste. We are losing part of our character and soul." "Every region, every valley, every village, sometimes every farm had a different recipe which was guarded jealously and regarded as the only right way to make cheese."

I found this article exceptionally interesting ... your opinion on this news?

The comparisons with American cheese industry were most disheartening however.

The United States, the self-appointed apostle of liberty and freedom of choice, has only one genuine, traditional cheese: the rubber kind you get in cheeseburgers (known as "American Cheese".)

[SuzySushi]

from the Independent UK

I found this article exceptionally interesting ... your opinion on this news? 

The comparisons with American cheese industry were most disheartening however.

The United States, the self-appointed apostle of liberty and freedom of choice, has only one genuine, traditional cheese: the rubber kind you get in cheeseburgers (known as "American Cheese".)

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Re: your second quote, the article's author obviously has never heard of the American artisan & farmstead cheese movement.

A recent study by the California Milk Advisory Board, “U.S. Cheese Consumption Trends, 1994-2003,” identified more than 350 specialty, artisan, and farmstead cheesemakers across the country. The number of such plants in 1994 could not be established, but an analysis indicated that many of the current cheesemakers had been in business for less than 10 years. In California alone, the number of varieties of specialty cheese being produced has gone from about 70 in 1995 to more than 250 today.

And, while many of these artisan cheeses are based on European styles, certainly other American-made cheeses, such as Monterey Jack, are "genuine, traditional cheese."

[marlena spieler]

Thats The Independent for you.

Marlena

[Gifted Gourmet]

Americans Love Cheese: $40 billon Sold in 2003 article

The study also notes that specialty cheese consumption, on a per capita basis, has grown five times faster than total cheese consumption over the past decade.

"In recent years, America has seen a virtual explosion in specialty cheese production, including a growing artisan and farmstead industry that is producing cheeses that are now being favorably compared with those of Europe," said Fletcher. "While it is hard to estimate exactly how many specialty cheesemakers there are in America,

Take that, Independent UK ... we are here to challenge European cheeses on all levels!

[MarketStEl]

And, while many of these artisan cheeses are based on European styles, certainly other American-made cheeses, such as Monterey Jack, are "genuine, traditional cheese."

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Is Jack cheese in general original to the United States?

If not, then Monterrey Jack is akin to Colby, the American member of the Cheddar family, named for the Wisconsin county where it originated.

Nonetheless, I agree that, while witty, that line from The Independent is a bit of a cheap shot. Especially these days.

[MarketStEl]

Nous sommes tous Americains:

The French dairy manufacturing industry, dominated by two or three large companies, has encouraged the belief that pasteurised cheese is "safe" and raw-milk cheeses are "risky". Scientific studies suggest that, as long as raw-milk cheese is well-made, it is less likely to be a breeding ground for listeria and other food-related dangers.

Raw-milk cheeses contain good and bad bacteria which cancel each other out. Pasteurised cheeses are "dead". They have no bacteria but that makes them more vulnerable to attack once they reach your fridge.

This echoes word for word something the cheesemonger at New York's Fairway food emporium, whose name now escapes me, said when he gave a talk at Penn a couple of years ago.

Ever since that talk, I've made a point of searching for raw milk versions of my favorite cheese varieties, and they have two qualities the industrial-grade pasteurized-milk versions lack: distinctive flavor and individuality--cheeses from the same dairy vary with the seasons.

I believe this notion that pasteurized-milk cheese is "safer" than raw-milk cheese originated in the United States, where, in the early 20th century, a mania for sanitation (tied up with fear of immigrants from the "darker races" of southern and eastern Europe) took hold on a scale unmatched anywhere else at the time.

Certainly the raw milk cheese keeps longer.

[marlena spieler]

The Independent is soooooo the master of the cheap shot esp if it is aimed at America or anything American.

Jack cheese is definately an america original, first sold by a ranch owner named captain jack who was originally from scotland. the first monterrey jack (his farm was located in the monterrey area) was what the mexican/indians were preparing from the extra milk on his ranch. he noticed they were making it to use up the leftover milk, he liked it, and then he thought: there might be a market for this cheese. when well done--such as Ig Vella, who also ages it to semi sec and totally dried--it is a lovely cheese indeed.

i'm thinking that america does a wonderful job at so many artisanal cheese these days, i'm thinking humbolt fog how good is that, laura chenel, andante, so many so many. in fact, a roque river blue won, last year i believe, a world's best award in the london food awards, beating out both french and english blue cheeses, actually all other cheeses! it was divine!

but when it comes to food, you seldom read this sort of thing and as an american writer, you can bet no one is interested in my saying such things. as with so many aspects of life, some publications and some people here in blighty are just so ready to diss anything good from the usa. (but of course, none of our lovely egullet readers who are open minded about food from anywhere and everywhere and would NEVER EVER act in such a way!)

but it is sad. and people reading the stuff really believe it. they really think that except for alice waters, american food is burgers and fries.

also, i'm not sure that the state of french cheeses is as dire as is often reported, as there are passions still burbling of people who cannot imagine being without these traditional cheeses.

the EU dictates about raw milk etc is another story. this is a shame.

marlena

Edited August 1, 2005 by marlena spieler (log)

[Bux]

What everyone else has said. Certainly even if "American" cheese was our only traditional cheese, one would have to honor what's transpired in the last twenty years. I don't know if Marlena was referring to a Rogue Creamery blue cheese -- their long list of trophies and blue ribbons includes a trophy for the Best Blue Cheese in the World at the World Cheese Awards in London in 2003. Marin French Cheese Company earned a gold medal for brie last year, albeit in the pasteurized class. Both of those cheeses got good notices from me in my post on the Fancy Food Show in NY as did a number of other cheeses in that and another post. Sadly, raw milk cheese is all but impossible to find in the US, but the brunt of the article was not about the US, but the loss of many traditional cheeses in France. Some are no longer being made and others are succumbing to EU regulations that are slowly forcing cheese makers to cook, or even pasteurize their milk, especially for fresh cheeses.

"Traditional" can be a code word for cheap shot when it's used to ignore dynamic contemporary changes. Marin French Cheese Company has been in business since the 1860s, by the way. France still produces more good and even more great cheese than we do and that's in total, not just per capita, but we shouldn't ignore the direction of cheese making in both countries. I'm as guilty as everyone else in rushing to defend American cheeses. The US is becoming better everyday, while as the article stresses, France is losing it's cheese culture (no pun intended). The brunt of the article is about the loss of French cheeses and that's an international loss as much as it's a French loss. I'd not gloat with any sense of the fact that we'll ever pass them for much of whatever is hurting the production of fine cheese in France has long affected us as well and some of those things are not moving in favor of better cheese.

Edited August 4, 2005 by Bux (log)

[docsconz]

It certainly is sad to think that France may be losing some of its cheese patrimony. This is probably due as much to EU regulations as anything else. On a more positive note, however, Spain in general and catalunya in particular seems to be refinding some of its lost patrimony. It seems that a lot of traditional regional cheesemaking in Spain was stamped out during the Franco years. Slowly cheese artisans are regaining some of the techniques that have lain dormant.

[SuzySushi]

I agree that a lot of the changes regarding French cheeses are due to EU regulations over raw milk. It's not the French dairy industry that's encouraging the changes.

[annieb]

Not just cheeses are succumbing to EU regulations. A farmer friend in the Auvergne complains that EU demands that everything now has to be "Inox" in sausage production, and he has had to seek out an old sausage making artisan to help him make his annual production of sausage, which he refers to as contraband because it is cave-cured. I had a long discussion with the proprietor of the charcuterie in the old Albi market who said the same thing. He said if his grandmother had lived to see EU regs which do not allow for selling some sausage after 60 days...she always hung some sausage in the loft behind the chimney, where it acquired a smoky taste and became very dry. He made a connection between the EU regs and a change in taste to a softer style of sausage.

[Adam Balic]

It certainly is sad to think that France may be losing some of its cheese patrimony. This is probably due as much to EU regulations as anything else. On a more positive note, however, Spain in general and catalunya in particular seems to be refinding some of its lost patrimony. It seems that a lot of traditional regional cheesemaking in Spain was stamped out during the Franco years. Slowly cheese artisans are regaining some of the techniques that have lain dormant.

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From my experience in the Dauphine recently, there are some young people that have made the decision to make a life out of traditional cheesemaking. This is not easy to do and involves considerable personal sacrifice, but there is some goverment support also.

One thing that they said was that the locals were very pleased when they bought the land and developed the property, as there were very few young people choosing to stay in the area.

I guess regulations etc are part of it, but it is a very demanding lifestyle without much obvious finacial insentive, so the could be next generation of small producers is choosing to more to the city and get more conventional jobs.

I also noticed that out of the two markets in Mens, the organic market had both the greatest range of artisan products and young people as producers.

[Bux]

. . . .

I guess regulations etc are part of it, but it is a very demanding lifestyle without much obvious finacial insentive, so the could be next generation of small producers is choosing to more to the city and get more conventional jobs.

I also noticed that out of the two markets in Mens, the organic market had both the greatest range of artisan products and young people as producers.

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It's never as simplistic as we often try to portray things. It's a lot easier to rail against regulations than acknowledge the greater changes that are just part of an ever larger scheme of things.

I posted this:

"I'm less convinced about certain things, although having been a visitor to France since the late fifties, I will agree that the declilne seems to have bottomed out by and large and that there are as many positive trends as there are declines today. Some things will be lost. The world changes all the time. We operate on a different scale in a different society with a different economy. The average Frenchman is further removed from agriculture than he was in the years after WWII. . . . I see a number of revivalist movements and artisanal pride, often coming from producers whose own family was not connected to farming, cheese making or the production of food stuffs. I'm not troubled either when the movements are not revivalist, but simply bring more quality to the French diet. I'm thinking of the number or microberweries in areas not traditionally known for beer. I'm also thinking that as the baguette has made a revival, that of whole grain bread is the revival of an even older tradition. Good food in France didn't begin with white flour. Let's hope the period following Escoffier proves not to be the high point in French cuisine."

in a thread on bread just now.

[robert brown]

Last spring I was in New York City's most revered cheese shop and could not find a single cheese I wanted to buy. Every one was either pasturized or aged beyond its optimum period. I like buying the Parmesan cheese at Di Palo's, but other than the odd goat cheese that tastes like it has escaped the US Customs, I don't buy cheese around here. I also don't like to be put in the position of having to buy more cheese than I want, which is always the case since I don't know of any shop that generally cuts cheese by hand except Di Palo's. Some don't do it at all. The best cheeses are young ones; French goat, Reblochon, Camembert, etc. that you can't get here unless it's contraband. I also don't think the French are taking great pains in ageing cheese like they used to. If you want impeccable cheese, then you have to live in France and order the stuff at high prices from a guy like Bernard Antony, although there are some cheese shops left that really care, but none around the Cote d'Azur. Still, some of the best cheese around is from Italy. Finding a great cheese tray in a restaurant in Italy is a joy. People don't realize that the cheese varities in Italy are close or equal to what it is in France. So many surprises and varieties to discover.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Still, some of the best cheese around is from Italy. Finding a great cheese tray in a restaurant in Italy is a joy. People don't realize that the cheese varities in Italy are close or equal to what it is in France. So many surprises and varieties to discover.

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Thank you for explaining about the cheeses in Italy. I had never considered that anyone could give the French "a run for their money" when it came to cheeses!

You have confirmed some of what the article says and given us new 'food for thought'. Quite a revelation, Robert!

[robert brown]

Thanks you so much, GG. Slow Food has published an English edition of their Italian cheese book ("Cheeses of Italy"?) that is a good ploace to start to learn about them, although like every book oj the subject, you often can't find the exact variety you just came in contct in. Yet there must be close to 200 that they cover.

There is some sort of artisinal cheese production activity being done by the younger generation in France, though to what extent I don't know. You see them at the various markets, but not in large numbers. I guess the business isn't exactly a cash cow.

[John Whiting]

This is from an article of mine a couple of years ago in Good Cheese. The entire arfticle is on my web site.

Fil o’Fromage is a small cheese and wine shop in the 14th arr just around the corner from Porte de Orleans, the south end of the No. 4 metro line. The selection is good, the proprietor speaks excellent English, and the prices reflect the less fashionable area

Great French cheeses are rapidly disappearing, and the proprietor was prepared to talk about it. New EU regulations demand structural changes in the working environment which, for the small producer, are prohibitively expensive. For instance, there must be no right angles between working surfaces and uprights – all ninety-degree joints must be converted to sweeping curves so that there are no corners in which bacteria might accumulate.

The result is that older small-scale cheesemakers are retiring early, with few of the younger generation prepared to take over from them. For instance, the famed Reblochon used to have over 200 artisanal producers; now there are only about thirty. And so the inexorable law of supply-and-demand has pushed the price into the stratosphere. This merchant is in one of the peripheral Paris arrondissements, not in the fashionable centre, and so his regular customers include pensioners who can no longer afford their favourite cheeses. He used to sell Reblochon by the complete piece, then he sold it in half-portions. Now he is prepared to sell it in small wedges, by weight: otherwise, not only would he limit his sales, but old people whom he has served for years would be deprived of one of their habitual comforts.

[Bux]

Please note that we've moved some posts that are only, or predominently, about Italian cheese to the Italy forum, where we've started a discussion about smaller artisan cheese producers in Italy.

[JohnL]

First--someone mentioned that raw cheeses are all but unavailable in the US.

I can say that here in the NY area raw milk cheeses are very available.

Murray's, Fairway, Balducci's, Whole Foods etc all offer raw milk cheeses.

A while ago-I was at a cheese tasting and Howard Dorman (an importer) noted that most serious wine shops offer raw milk cheeses simply flouting the law which obviously is not enforced to any great degree.

Second--the Guardian's cheap shots aside--both the US and Great Brittain have made tremendous advances in food over the last fifty years. better foods better restaurants etc.

However, I wonder if American produced cheese and wine are available to any great degree in Europe. I believe that we here in the US have one of the most diverse and wide ranging selection of foods and wines from around the world.

Much of Europe is extremely "provincial" in this regard. One can certainly make a good case that this provincialism has fostered the great products Europe has produced over the years.

Ironically, the success of the US in offering locally produced cheeses, wines etc is due to our becoming more provincial--local artisinal vs mass/nationally produced etc.

It seems also ironic that the "globalization" of Europe via the EU is actually "Americanizing" (if that's a word) their food and wine production. They and the US are actually going in opposite directions!

I would say that "sons" and "daughters" here in the US are now looking at farming and cheese and wine production as noble and worthy enterprises--to the benefit of all of us here as consumers. This trend was inspired in no small part by what Europe has achieved over several centuries. It is a shame that Europe seems to be moving away from this just as we are steadily moving toward it!

[docsconz]

Raw milk cheeses are indeed available in the US, but they must be aged for more than 60 days. This means that there are no young raw milk cheeses like most of the best chevres, etc.

[Bux]

First--someone mentioned that raw cheeses are all but unavailable in the US.

I can say that here in the NY area raw milk cheeses are very available.

Murray's, Fairway, Balducci's, Whole Foods etc all offer raw milk cheeses.

A while ago-I was at a cheese tasting and Howard Dorman (an importer) noted that most serious wine shops offer raw milk cheeses simply flouting the law which obviously is not enforced to any great degree.

Second--the Guardian's cheap shots aside--both the US and Great Brittain have made tremendous advances in food over the last fifty years. better foods better restaurants etc.

However, I wonder if American produced cheese and wine are available to any great degree in Europe. I believe that we here in the US have one of the most diverse and wide ranging selection of foods and wines from around the world.

Much of Europe is extremely "provincial" in this regard. One can certainly make a good case that this provincialism has fostered the great products Europe has produced over the years.

Ironically, the success of the US in offering locally produced cheeses, wines etc is due to our becoming more provincial--local artisinal vs mass/nationally produced etc.

It seems also ironic that the "globalization" of Europe via the EU is actually "Americanizing" (if that's a word) their food and wine production. They and the US are actually going in opposite directions!

I would say that "sons" and "daughters" here in the US are now looking at farming and cheese and wine production as noble and worthy enterprises--to the benefit of all of us here as consumers. This trend was inspired in no small part by what Europe has achieved over several centuries. It is a shame that Europe seems to be moving away from this just as we are steadily moving toward it!

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A most interesting post, at least for me, as it addresses issues close to my thoughts on food, especially in the US and France. Raw milk cheeses are available, but only in select markets. Raw milk cheeses are not accurately labeled. There is no government control over labeling raw milk cheese precisely because the young ones at least, are illegal. Regarding advancements in the quality and interest of food in the US over the last fifty years, I'd say that if you halve that figure, you'll get the steep part of the curve. American products are not available to a great degree in Europe and when they are, they are not competitively priced. Thus their availability is unlikely to increase right now. The first time you pay more for an inferior cheese may be the last time you try an American cheese. It's not simple provincialism that keeps our products off the market in Europe.

Nevertheless, things are getting better here, while in France there's been a decline over the last fifty years. However, there are numerous signs that the decline may be over and that quality is improving again in Europe. So there's not that much hope we'll pass them quickly if we're depending on their decline to meet us half way. Still, I'm encouraged that we were able to put together a respectable meal that included tomatoes I thought were better than any I've had in France, to serve some French people at the spur of the moment simply by shopping at the Greenmarket in NYC. I don't know that I could say that about any selection of American made cheeses, but I've put together respectable cheeseboards to serve Frenchmen in the past and my sources are better today. The raw milk factor still keeps the cheeses below the quality of the best in France in almost every case. Still, the gap decreases.

The upside for France as well, is that young people whose parents weren't farmers also consider the production of a superbly crafted cheese to be a noble occupation. Perhaps they are not led away having not grown up experiencing the hardships involved. There's many a hard working farmer whose dream it is to see his kids lead an easier life.

[John Whiting]

The British Tourist Board now claims approximately 450 native cheeses. There are indeed a lot of distinguished cheeses but, having judged for the World Cheese Awards for the past three years, I'm depressed by how many are badly conceived and badly made. This year there was a whole room off to one side categorized as "processed cheese with additives". None of them won any prizes but a lot of time had to be wasted over them.

It would be easy to declare that "only real cheeses may enter", but that would be an arbitrary a priori rejection. Better to have a broad entrance and a narrow exit.

[Gifted Gourmet]

The upside for France as well, is that young people whose parents weren't farmers also consider the production of a superbly crafted cheese to be a noble occupation.

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Which is what we have been noticing here in the States as well ... the emergence of the artisanal cheese farms has been encouraging. One such farm is here in Georgia: Sweet Grass Dairy

the Wehners found out what it was like to dairy in a conventional system. Having been in a dairy partnership with 1100 milking Holsteins on concrete, the Wehners became disillusioned by the conventional model for dairying and decided it was time for a change. In 1993, the Wehners created Green Hill Dairy, a 340 acre, New Zealand style rotational-grazing dairy that has proven to be a catalyst for the world-class cheeses currently produced by Sweet Grass Dairy. 

[Bux]

The British Tourist Board now claims approximately 450 native cheeses. There are indeed a lot of distinguished cheeses but, having judged for the World Cheese Awards for the past three years, I'm depressed by how many are badly conceived and badly made. This year there was a whole room off to one side categorized as "processed cheese with additives". None of them won any prizes but a lot of time had to be wasted over them.

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I understand that at this year's World's Cheese Awards, first class in the Triple Creme Brie category was taken by Marin French Cheese Company with it's Rouge et Noir brand product. I know the cheese was made with pasteurized milk, but I'm not sure if there were separate categories for raw milk cheeses and pasteurized milk cheeses. The literature I have suggests a single competition thought I am suspicious by nature. I've had some exceptional cheeses from this company. In fact I tasted a few at the Fancy Food Show in NY and they were kind enough to send a larger sampling. One of their soft ripened chèvres was bland, the other had exceptional flavor and both were perfectly ripe. I have a brie that appears to still need some aging, so I will wait another week. The variety produced was good, and the best of their cheeses could earn a place on a cheeseboard in France.

[John Whiting]

...I'm not sure if there were separate categories for raw milk cheeses and pasteurized milk cheeses.

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Going back to my files, I find that only brie and camembert had separate categories for pasteurized and unpasteurized.