The Cheese Board

[vinteuil]

I've kept out the Époisses to go with the Sauternes.

... hmm. Usually the association is sauternes with a salty blue cheese, platonically roquefort. Something about the combo of salt and blue with the sweetness of the sauternes.

Far from convinced that it wd marry well with an époisses : classic recommendations for that wd include burgundy : white (côte-de-beaune, côte chalonnaise, chablis) or red (irancy, côte-de-nuits, gevrey-chambertin), possibly a gewurtztraminer.

But we each have our goût. Or gout....

.

[french frank]

An unusual name certainly, but Tesco have sold it before it seems, and the company produces several other wines according to this
https://www.twil.fr/france/bordeaux/...792.html#67605

Well, M Vinteuil or any of our French dwellers will put me right. Yvon Mau appears to be a négociant which seems to have more to do with the business of buying and selling wines than the making of wine.

But I am no slave to gastronomic or oenological self-indulgence and shall be more than content with my purchases even though they came from Tesco. I've kept out the Époisses to go with the Sauternes.

Oh dear. I've just discovered Époisses is banned in the US. Morituri te salutant

[oddoneout]

Coop selection currently a bit mere - only Roquefort - so I wandered up to ocseT to see if they had their Chaource (about time I made Gratin champenois). At first I couldn't see it so loaded up with Langres, Époisses and Saint Félicien (such riches!), then spotted the Chaource so had that too. Not 100% sure about the Saint Félicien. Highland D? Will try it neat but may end up melting over potatoes

And a half of Yvon Mau Sauternes 2018 - whatever that is. No estate named but I take what I can get. It was that or a Brown Bros orange muscat for the Roquefort. Till lady took off the security tag, inspected the bottle and enquired, "Is it wine?" "Yes." "Never seen that before." Dunno, maybe Tesco customers have better taste!

An unusual name certainly, but Tesco have sold it before it seems, and the company produces several other wines according to this

https://www.twil.fr/france/bordeaux/sauternes/premius-exigence-wine-47792.html#67605

[french frank]

Coop selection currently a bit mere - only Roquefort - so I wandered up to ocseT to see if they had their Chaource (about time I made Gratin champenois). At first I couldn't see it so loaded up with Langres, Époisses and Saint Félicien (such riches!), then spotted the Chaource so had that too. Not 100% sure about the Saint Félicien. Highland D? Will try it neat but may end up melting over potatoes

And a half of Yvon Mau Sauternes 2018 - whatever that is. No estate named but I take what I can get. It was that or a Brown Bros orange muscat for the Roquefort. Till lady took off the security tag, inspected the bottle and enquired, "Is it wine?" "Yes." "Never seen that before." Dunno, maybe Tesco customers have better taste!

[Pulcinella]

And more idle searching suggests there are people who eat an entire one . I think I've seen something called a 'baking camembert'. I don't object as long as I don't have to eat it or witness anyone else doing so. A cheese board is an art form.

I think it can be a sort of sharing platter, too.

[oliver sudden]

Baking camembert make more sense - a variation on raclette? Less faff and mess(and grease) than frying, and the wooden box is eminently recyclable/biodegradable.

I don’t think I’m going to be doing that if I can get hold of Mont d’or though…

[oddoneout]

And more idle searching suggests there are people who eat an entire one . I think I've seen something called a 'baking camembert'. I don't object as long as I don't have to eat it or witness anyone else doing so. A cheese board is an art form.

Baking camembert make more sense - a variation on raclette? Less faff and mess(and grease) than frying, and the wooden box is eminently recyclable/biodegradable.

[Roger Webb]

And more idle searching suggests there are people who eat an entire one . I think I've seen something called a 'baking camembert'. .

Yes, similarly I once saw something called 'baking beetroots'....and left them on the shelf, silly me!

[french frank]

A bit of idle searching for 'when' came up with this. Australian dinner parties - who knew, as they say?

And more idle searching suggests there are people who eat an entire one . I think I've seen something called a 'baking camembert'. I don't object as long as I don't have to eat it or witness anyone else doing so. A cheese board is an art form.

[oliver sudden]

For a time in Oz it wasn’t legal to sell raw milk products, after a couple of food poisoning fatalities. (There was reportedly a very mournful Roquefort sacrifice somewhere or other. Things have since relaxed.) During that period I brought my French then-girlfriend out for a visit and foolishly took her one day to visit a cheese shop. She greeted everything she tried with ‘nice yoghurt’…

All that just to say that there is a fair bit of Aussie ‘Camembert’ (and, as others have noted, also of French Camembert-in-name-only) which would be well suited to such a fate.

[oddoneout]

One thing I've wondered about recently: deep fried camembert. When did people start doing this? I suppose there are industrial camemberts that you could fry or bake. But it would seem sacrilege to do it to a decent cheese.

A bit of idle searching for 'when' came up with this. Australian dinner parties - who knew, as they say?

http://esurientes.blogspot.com/2005/08/imbb-were-living-in-seventies.html

[Roger Webb]

One thing I've wondered about recently: deep fried camembert. When did people start doing this? I suppose there are industrial camemberts that you could fry or bake. But it would seem sacrilege to do it to a decent cheese.

Yes, it is a foul practice and results in a smell in the dining room of burnt rubber, and the resulting....well, what? Something akin to Evostick is indegestable. Surely one wouldn't do it to an 'au lait cru', perhaps to a 'Président'.....(the make of industrially produced cheese...not the 'big cheese' in Paris!).

[french frank]

One thing I've wondered about recently: deep fried camembert. When did people start doing this? I suppose there are industrial camemberts that you could fry or bake. But it would seem sacrilege to do it to a decent cheese.

[Roger Webb]

... interesting. Like you I often advocate white wines for cheese.

Here my notes wd suggest :
brie de meaux - red :st nicolas de bourgeuil, givry, st julien, vosne-romanee (!), saumur, moulin a vent
camembert - white : gewurztraminer, riesling, arbois savagnin ; red : chinon, st nicolas de bourgueil, bourgeuil, touraine ; cidre (pays d'auge)
pont l' eveque - red : st emilion, saumur, morgon, cote de brouilly ; cidre
neufchatel - red : pomerol, st emilion, cotes du rhone, beaujolais, st nicolas de bourgueil, saumur, anjou ; white : pouilly fume, coteaux champenois ; cidre

Yes, for these cheeses you mention several Beaujolais (perhaps slightly chilled) and I concur - I did say Loire wines too but not the Saumur red! or Bourgeuil much as I love those. But St Julien?!!
For me Cab Sauv is a big no-no, they are far too tanic for creamy cheeses surely. Neither would I choose Merlot based St Emilion or Pomerol for soft cheeses!
At least Camembert gets the nod for whites... and cider, which I'll happily drink in Normandy....in fact I'm cooking moules in cider tonight....to be eaten with Muscadet though!

[vinteuil]

I Think the perfect accompaniment to 'northern' cows milk creamy cheeses: Brie, Camembert, Pont l'Eveque, Neufchatel (although Valentine's day is passed!) require a dryish Loire wine or a Muscadet Sévre et Maine Sur Lie, or, hard to find here, Gros Plant - long considered beyond the pale, but making a comeback.

... interesting. Like you I often advocate white wines for cheese.

Here my notes wd suggest :
brie de meaux - red :st nicolas de bourgeuil, givry, st julien, vosne-romanee (!), saumur, moulin a vent
camembert - white : gewurztraminer, riesling, arbois savagnin ; red : chinon, st nicolas de bourgueil, bourgeuil, touraine ; cidre (pays d'auge)
pont l' eveque - red : st emilion, saumur, morgon, cote de brouilly ; cidre
neufchatel - red : pomerol, st emilion, cotes du rhone, beaujolais, st nicolas de bourgueil, saumur, anjou ; white : pouilly fume, coteaux champenois ; cidre