French dinner

[DameD]

Well it has been a long time since being on Egullet, since having a 4 month old and dealing with a 3 year old somewhat takes your time away from the keyboard.

Anyway i am back!

I am having a French themed Progressive dinner party with 5 couples. I am assigned the last course of a Cheese platter and wines to match. Can anyone help me or recommend cheeses from France and wines to match. I was thinking a selection of 5 cheeses, soft, old and lots of mold..

I will probably do my purchasing from Les Amis Fromage, but anyones imput would be a great help, to make this last course very memorable for the eve.

Edited October 11, 2005 by DameD (log)

[Ling]

One of my favourites is Vacherin Mont d'Or. I bought it at Les Amis, but they only had a limited quantity available, I think.

[*Deborah*]

Sorry, Danielle, do you mean digestifs to go with your cheese? or aperitifs (which are what you have before the meal)?

[Little Frog]

Let's see...

What about:

- Saint-Felicien or Saint-Marcellin for something soft and rather mild

- a good (read: fatty, runny and smelly) Brie

- Cantal for a nutty and fruity Gallic alternative to Gruyere

- one blue cheese: Roquefort is a classic, but you may want to try something creamier, such as Bleu de Bresse or Fourme d'Ambert

- to round things up, you could either pick a goat's milk cheese (Chabichou, Crottin de Chavignol or a Buche de chevre), something downright strong and pungent (Munster), or maybe a slightly unusual cheese such as Morbier, in which the inner blue streak is not mold but ash.

I would serve this selection with a garnish of Autumn fruit (grapes and figs come to mind) and walnuts.

If this platter is served as the last course, you may want to forgo aperitifs, which would traditionally be served before dinner. An alternative would be a fruity, lively spirit such as Armagnac or Calvados.

However, most French families nowadays would serve a nice full-bodied red wine with their cheese platter. The rule used to be that you should try and serve wines from the same region as the cheese. Obviously, this is unpractical at best when serving several cheeses and no, in case you were wondering, French people do not have a flight of five different wines every night with their cheese course (a shame, I know!)

You will need something fairly robust and tannic to withstand the strength of Munster and Roquefort cheese. If you go for milder cheeses, a good Cotes du Rhone or Chateauneuf du Pape would be lovely.

I hope you will have lots of fun with your cheese and wine assignment! Let us know what you ended up getting.

Bon appetit!

Emmanuelle

[DameD]

Sorry, Danielle, do you mean digestifs to go with your cheese? or aperitifs (which are what you have before the meal)?

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sorry was typing too fast and not thinking, more along dessert wines and or like mentioned full bodied reds and maybe even a few ports, basically anything to match with the cheeses

And thank you Emmanuelle for all your suggestions, everything sounds perfect, i am going to print off your list and start a search... and definietly fruits, i actually just picked 20 figs off our tree, which will be good and we have lots of red and green grapes from our vines.

i will let you know as to what i find and match and maybe even take a few pics!

[Little Frog]

One last thing... I have not been to Les Amis du Fromage in three or four weeks, but last time I went I do not remember seeing Cantal.

If Cantal is not available, Comte is another excellent hard cheese from the Jura mountains. Comte is interesting in that it will be quite fruity if made with summer milk, or nutty if made with winter milk. It is delicious either way

Edited October 11, 2005 by Little Frog (log)

[*Deborah*]

Ah, aperitifs I could help, but I know little to nothing about cheese and what matches it, so leave you to the experts

Oh: you can look on some menus (like Aurora Bistro) online, they list pairings for the cheese courses sometimes.

[Daddy-A]

One last thing... I have not been to Les Amis du Fromage in three or four weeks, but last time I went I do not remember seeing Cantal.

If Cantal is not available, Comte is another excellent hard cheese from the Jura mountains. Comte is interesting in that it will be quite fruity if made with summer milk, or nutty if made with winter milk. It is delicious either way 

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I'll second the Comte, and throw my favourite blue into the mix: Fourme d'Amber.

A.

[makanmakan]

One last thing... I have not been to Les Amis du Fromage in three or four weeks, but last time I went I do not remember seeing Cantal.

If Cantal is not available, Comte is another excellent hard cheese from the Jura mountains. Comte is interesting in that it will be quite fruity if made with summer milk, or nutty if made with winter milk. It is delicious either way 

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I'll second the Comte, and throw my favourite blue into the mix: Fourme d'Amber.

A.

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thirding the comte and adding in munster gerome.

i also stumbled across this. might help. not all french cheeses, but it has a good quick description of various cheeses. it was a wine and cheese tasting done with alice spurrell of les amis. http://southworldwine.com/Feb2005_tasting.html

[Paul B]

I have said it before and I'll say it again, the king of cheeses is Epoisse. The last time I did a cheese platter with an Epoisse it was the only cheese that my guests finished every bite of. Throw one in your cheese course and serve with a gutsy red wine. L'Ami carries Epoisse, as does the Cheese Shoppe in Park Royal.

[barolo]

My recommendation would be to go to Les Amis and ask them to help you put together a cheese plate rather than go to the store with a preset list. That way you will be able to taste samples of the cheeses you buy and get some background about the cheeses from the staff.

[BCinBC]

Paul B I could not agree more with your suggestion. I tried some at a dinner in France recently, and was absolutely amazed at the flavour. I did not catch the specific producer, but the Epoisse surpassed any cheese I tried on the entire trip.

My trip report is going quite slowly, but here are a couple sneak previews of the cheese course we had at Les Santons:

Cheese selection: L'Epoisse is at about 1 o'clock, with the fork in it.

My cheese plate: once again look at that runny, delicious mess at about 1 o'clock.

[Paul B]

Paul B I could not agree more with your suggestion. I tried some at a dinner in France recently, and was absolutely amazed at the flavour. I did not catch the specific producer, but the Epoisse surpassed any cheese I tried on the entire trip.

My trip report is going quite slowly, but here are a couple sneak previews of the cheese course we had at Les Santons:

My cheese plate: once again look at that runny, delicious mess at about 1 o'clock.

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Beautiful! I got turned on to Epoisse when I was living in Ireland. There was an excellent shop in downtown Galway that imported cheeses and other goodies from the continent. When I got back to Vancouver I tracked the cheese down and have been turning friends on to it ever since. Steve Jenkins, in his essential Cheese Primer, lists Epoisse as one of the great cheeses of the world.

Man, I got to get back to Europe...

Edited October 11, 2005 by Paul B (log)

[DameD]

Thanks for the pics BCinBC they are beautfiul, my mouth is watering, we are going to france next year and i can hardly wait for the cheeses alone!

Epoisse and Cantal or Comte I will be in the search for, thanks for everyones suggestions. i think I could skip the other 4 courses and just eat cheese.

["T"]

Well it has been a long time since being on Egullet, since having a 4 month old and dealing with a 3 year old somewhat takes your time away from the keyboard.

Anyway i am back!

I am having a French themed Progressive dinner party with 5 couples. I am assigned the last course of a Cheese platter and wines to match. Can anyone help me or recommend cheeses  from France and wines to match. I was thinking a selection of 5 cheeses, soft, old and lots of mold..

I will probably do my purchasing from Les Amis Fromage, but anyones imput would be a great help, to make this last course very memorable for the eve.

←

Talk to Joe at Les Amis.

He knows his cheese and which wines to pair with them.

Most likely he'll aim you towards wine from the Alsace.

Nothing wrong with that.

Enjoy!!!!

[Bubbalicious]

You also have to buy a jar of Kracher Riesling Jelly when you are at LAdF. 10 to 12 bucks for a teeny amount but it is so beautiful with cheese. The people behind the counter are also fantastic at putting together a great cheese selection.

Then I would head to Liberty or Marquis and let them know what you've got planned. One of the best palates in the city is at the Liberty at Park Royal in the mouth of Tyler Dawson. He'll put it all together for you. I had a fantastic Loire wine and cheese tasting this way.

I wonder how many wine and cheese pairing parties are gonna be inspired by your thread...

[jamiemaw]

You also have to buy a jar of Kracher Riesling Jelly when you are at LAdF.  10 to 12 bucks for a teeny amount but it is so beautiful with cheese.  The people behind the counter are also fantastic at putting together a great cheese selection.

Then I would head to Liberty or Marquis . . . [sNIP]

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I second Bob's recommendation of the reisling jelly from Les Amis and others' go-to-Joe recs for Epoisse and others. Don't turn your nose up at some of the nutty Bries . . .

Here are two wines that we enjoyed over Thanksgiving. Both multi-tasked from bird to cheese, especially the Spinifex:

Loimer 04 Reisling Langenlois (Austria) 12.0%/vol (CDN $24.90) that really shook hands with the bird--very elegant structure, minerally but supple, neat with milder cheeses.Beautiful bottle.

With the cheese course after dessert (several guests were in distress by this point), we opened a bottle of 03 Spinifex Esprit from the Barossa (CDN $35.90). It's 40% granache, 34% mataro, 21% shiraz and 5% cinsault. Unfiltered and 15.0%/vol there were only 265 cases produced by Domain Jardin in Nuriootpa, South Australia. A delightfully complex bruiser--by turns aggressive and nuanced--from old, low-yielding vines.

Edited to say: both were purchased from Marquis.

Edited October 16, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[Chef Metcalf]

Paul B I could not agree more with your suggestion. I tried some at a dinner in France recently, and was absolutely amazed at the flavour. I did not catch the specific producer, but the Epoisse surpassed any cheese I tried on the entire trip.

My trip report is going quite slowly, but here are a couple sneak previews of the cheese course we had at Les Santons:

Cheese selection: L'Epoisse is at about 1 o'clock, with the fork in it.

My cheese plate: once again look at that runny, delicious mess at about 1 o'clock.

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I am so glad you posted that picture Brian!

I had that in France this summer and it was fantastic, but I never knew the name, so thanks!

OMG, it was fantastic...so creamy and rich.

I'll be heading to the Cheese Shop asap.

Here's one more that may go well with your cheese course.

Blue St Agur.

51% milkfat reminds me of a cambozola only far richer with nutty flavoured blue streaks.

[Mooshmouse]

Here's one more that may go well with your cheese course.

Blue St Agur.

51% milkfat reminds me of a cambozola only far richer with nutty flavoured blue streaks.

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I'll wholeheartedly second that recommendation. Once upon a time, I was not a blue cheese lover, but St. Agur is what made me develop a newfound appreciation for it.

[Jmahl]

You folks have got it down. I am without words.

bon appétit

[forever_young_ca]

I find all of the staff at Les Amis very good. Rather going in with some pre conceived notions I would ask Alice (or Joe or Alison) what happens to be good at the time. They will steer you to some cheeses that are at their peak and will have some wine suggetions to go with them.

PS. I agree with Ling that Mont D'or is the king of cheeses. Sadly it is not available usually until mid to late November. I would doubt very much if it is in at this time. Depending upon when your party is, you may ask when it is coming in and put your name on the wait list to get some.

[Ling]

PS. I agree with Ling that Mont D'or is the king of cheeses.  Sadly it is not available usually until mid to late November.  I would doubt very much if it is in at this time.  Depending upon when your party is, you may ask when it is coming in and put your name on the wait list to get some.

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Glad someone else out there loves this as much as I do! I can't wait until I get my greedy paws on a round.

[~cayenne~]

Paul B I could not agree more with your suggestion. I tried some at a dinner in France recently, and was absolutely amazed at the flavour. I did not catch the specific producer, but the Epoisse surpassed any cheese I tried on the entire trip.

My trip report is going quite slowly, but here are a couple sneak previews of the cheese course we had at Les Santons:

Cheese selection: L'Epoisse is at about 1 o'clock, with the fork in it.

My cheese plate: once again look at that runny, delicious mess at about 1 o'clock.

←

I am so glad you posted that picture Brian!

I had that in France this summer and it was fantastic, but I never knew the name, so thanks!

OMG, it was fantastic...so creamy and rich.

I'll be heading to the Cheese Shop asap.

Here's one more that may go well with your cheese course.

Blue St Agur.

51% milkfat reminds me of a cambozola only far richer with nutty flavoured blue streaks.

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Oh, oh, I'm so glad you posted this, Blue St Agur I was thinking of it, but..... I discovered this cheese at Oyama on G.I. It is sooooooo delicious. I it, really yummy! Very smooth, creamy with just the right bite of sharpness of blue. Really lovely cheese to finish off with I'd guess.

[Chef Metcalf]

If you are going to serve individual cheese courses, maybe a stilton brulee to go along with it?

I served this one the other night.....(and in true Ling style, I ate a leftover one for breakfast the next morning ).

Clockwise from Stilton Brulee (in the small ramekins), pecan fruit crisps, Concord Grapes, Poplar Grove Ash Ripened Camembert, Fig Jam and Blue St Agur.

Regular creme brulee recipe, omit sugar and vanilla and add about 2 ounces of stilton, gorgonzola or camembert (add a bit more for the last two). I just add the cheese until it tastes right so I don't really know exactly how much to add. Cut down on the cooking time too as they're so small, they'll firm up pretty quick.

[makanmakan]

If you are going to serve individual cheese courses, maybe a stilton brulee to go along with it?

I served this one the other night.....(and in true Ling style, I ate a leftover one for breakfast the next morning ).

Clockwise from Stilton Brulee (in the small ramekins), pecan fruit crisps, Concord Grapes, Poplar Grove Ash Ripened Camembert, Fig Jam and Blue St Agur.

Regular creme brulee recipe, omit sugar and vanilla and add about 2 ounces of stilton, gorgonzola or camembert (add a bit more for the last two). I just add the cheese until it tastes right so I don't really know exactly how much to add. Cut down on the cooking time too as they're so small, they'll firm up pretty quick.

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must.try.stilton.brulee.