French Cuisine

» Larry Ervin - French Cheese

The AOC designation protects the makers of a given cheese (or wine) from someone else using their name to sell product. The designation specifies a geographic area, occasionally one or more specific dairies, whether the cheese is made from cow's milk, sheep, goat or a mixture, sometimes the specific methods, and usually the length of aging. Does that guarantee quality or consistency? I think I could give you a definite maybe sometimes. Cheese-making is an art. It is more than the sum of ingredients. The flavor of milk varies by season and even the time of day, evening vs. morning milking. It is certainly to the dairy'e benefit to maintain consistent quality and I suspect most pay close attention to that. Your best bet is to get chummy with your cheese-monger and ask them about specific cheeses. Then taste before you buy.
If you like blue-veined cheese, you might check out Bleu d'Auvergne. I describe it in my recent article on "Blue Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin." I discuss three other blue cheeses in my piece on alternatives to Roquefort and Gorgonzola. Cabrales from Spain, while superbly complex at its best, is notoriously variable by season and dairy.