Welcome back to the Cheese Corner, get ready for thrice the cheesiness.

On November 11, in honor of National French Week, Strath Haven’s French club offered a fifth-block cheese (fromage) tasting featuring three French cheeses. I attended and thoroughly enjoyed all three!

Starting off with Brie (hailing from the French region of the same name), the French club provided an eighth-century version that left Brie’s signature taste in my mouth long after I tried it (or at least until the other cheeses blocked it out again). 

Also, an eighth-century cheese, Loire Valley Goat Cheese, was another great addition to my plate.  Since it had a pretty creamy consistency, it acted as an excellent dip for the bread and crackers that the French club provided. While it didn’t have a particularly strong taste, the quality was enough to compensate for it.

Lastly, Boursin, a 1957 Normandy cheese, stood out in taste and aftertaste. Although not as creamy as the goat cheese, it also went great with the crackers and bread.

The cheeses are made in different ways. Brie comes from cow milk that is either pasteurized or raw, combined with enzymes and rennet to help with the curdling process. Its white mold is created by incorporating yeast culture. The curdles are then cut and put into molds. 

The Loire Valley Goat Cheese is (unsurprisingly) made from goat milk that goes through a slower coagulation process in which it is mixed with rennet. 

Boursin’s creation came about through a French newspaper mistakenly claiming that its creator, Francois Boursin, had included garlic in his cheese, an idea that the French public loved so much that Boursin decided to make it into a reality, creating the garlicky Boursin cheese that is renowned and distributed today.

Although every cheese I tried was great and definitely worth tasting, my personal favorite would have to be Brie. Its distinct taste and aftertaste have made it an enduring classic, and I’m always happy to try it.

Let’s hope next year’s French Week serves up more great cheese!