Tomme fraîche is a hard-pressed curd that is made with cow’s milk. It is made in the production of Laguiole, Cantal, and Salers cheese. The curd is unsalted and slightly fermented, and because it’s hard-pressed, it has a high level of dry matter.
It is produced in the natural region of L’Aubrac, which is located in the central-south of Massif Central and is comprised of three departments - Aveyron, Lozère, and part of Auvergne. There are many types of tomme fraîche, but the most noted is the tomme fraîche de l'Aubrac.
Dating back to the 18th century, Fontainebleau is a French cheese originating from Ile-de-France. It is made with cow's milk and cream, and its texture is smooth, spreadable, and creamy. The flavor is light, mild, fresh, and milky, and the cheese can be served as a dessert or a cheese on its own.
Fontainebleau is traditionally sold in a gauze-lined container, and it is recommended to serve it with fresh fruit or berries.
Despite its name, petit-suisse (lit. little Swissman) is not a Swiss cheese. It comes from Normandy, where it has been produced since 1850. However, there was a Swiss worker in the dairy of Auvilliers, who suggested adding cream to the curd because he thought it would enrich the flavor of the cheese, and it turns out that he was right.
This fresh and soft cow's milk cheese has a smooth and creamy texture, and its flavor is quite mild, with sour, sweet, and tangy hints. It is usually eaten with honey, fruit jams, sugar, and nuts, although some like to season it with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs.
Mató is a sweet, unsalted, unfermented, fresh cheese produced in the Spanish region of Catalonia. It is traditionally served as a dessert with honey or jam, known as mel i mató. In Catalonia, the cheese is regularly sold when only a day or two old, when it is turned out of the shallow baskets in which it has been drained.
Visually, mató is reminiscent of ricotta, curd cheese, or cottage cheese. In the past, the cheese was made with goat's milk because no one could afford to buy a cow, but today it is made with cow's milk as well. Mató was extremely popular during the Middle Ages, when it was either made plain or flavored with orange flowers.
Queso de Burgos is a Spanish cheese made from pasteurized or unpasteurized cow's and sheep's milk. The cheese has a pure white color, and it is traditionally shaped into a wheel with characteristical ridges on top. Its texture is silky and creamy, while the flavors are very mild, fresh, milky, and slightly acidic.
It is recommended to pair it with honey, walnuts, and dry white wines.
Madame Loïk is a French cheese made from cow's milk. It's a type of fromage fouetté, meaning whipped cheese. Its texture is creamy, fluffy, and light, while the flavors are mild and fresh. There are a few versions of this cheese, and the most common one is lightly seasoned with Guérande sea salt.
Other varieties include honey and nuts, shallots and chives, and red pepper purée. It is recommended to serve it with honey or spread it over a baguette, then sprinkle it with chopped herbs. Madame Loïk can also be used in a variety of cooked dishes.
Pair with
Fromage blanc is a French fresh cheese made from cow's milk. It shouldn't be confused with fromage frais, which must contain live cultures, while the fermentation in fromage blanc has been stopped. Its texture is soft, creamy, and spreadable.
The aromas are fresh, while the flavors are mild, smooth, and citrusy. Cream is often added to fromage blanc in order to enrich its flavors. It is recommended to serve fromage blanc as a dessert with fruit or jams, flavor it with herbs, use it as a pastry filling, or spread it on bread.
Fromage frais is a French fresh cheese made from whole or skimmed cow's, goat's, or sheep's milk which is sometimes enriched with the addition of cream. Its texture is smooth and creamy. In flavor, it is similar to cream cheese (milky, tangy, acidic, smooth), but fromage frais is much lower in fat.
It's important not to confuse it with fromage blanc, which doesn't contain live cultures, while fromage frais does. The cheese is often used as an accompaniment to caviar, but it can also be enriched with fruit or honey. It pairs well with sparkling white wines and fortified wines.
Pair with
Ricotta Romana is a fresh milk product made with sheep’s milk whey obtained from animals in the Lazio region that are pasture-grazed or fed on forage that grows in the region. Pastures and grass reserves are the only food for the sheep and the reason behind the sweet flavors of the whey.
At the beginning of 1900, it was the only source of food for the sheep herders who produced it. The sheep’s particular diet, which mainly consists of typical grassland and pastures in the geographical production area, influences the quantity of lactose in the milk whey (no less than 3,55 %).
Brocciu is a cheese that can be fresh or matured, made on Corsica island from goat's or sheep's milk and whey. It can act as a lactose-free replacement for the Italian Ricotta cheese. It has a smooth, creamy and crumbly texture and its fat percentage is in the ranks of 40-50 %.
If eaten young and fresh, it is best to strain it through a cheesecloth or a sieve to remove the excess liquid from. When it is sold as matured cheese, it matures from a few weeks to a month. It has a sweet, milky taste and is best used in making omelettes, baked good such as pastries, or used in making soups.
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