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Cheese and dairy

A stand of French cheese

We have come a long way from De Gaulle’s famous ‘How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?’ There are at least 1,200 kinds of French cheeses now, including many local farm cheeses you may only find chez the maker or in a weekly rural market (not all of them are on this app!)

In France, the average person eats 27.2kg of fromage a year, which seems like a lot (but the French have nothing on the Czechs, who devour an astonishing 64kg per capita, followed by the Germans, who each down 37kg on average). It’s French comfort food—sales soared during the pandemic lockdown.

See cheese words for some useful cheesy terminology.

This category also includes other dairy products, of which the French are the masters: no other nation’s supermarchés have such heaving refrigerated aisles of sweet, sour, and savoury milk-based delights.

cheese words

and a brief history of French cheese

Abondance

Cow’s milk cheese from Haute Savoie

Aisy Cendré

cow’s milk cheese ripened in ashes

babeurre

buttermilk

Bamalou

raw cow’s milk cheese

Banon

goat cheese discs in chestnut leaves

Barousse

rustic sheep and cow’s milk cheese

Beaufort

fondue cheese from Savoie

berthoud

melted Abondance and white wine

Bethmale

cheese from Ariège

beurre

butter

beurre manié

kneaded butter or thickening a sauce

beurre noisette

brown butter

bibeleskaes

‘chick cheese’

Bleu d'Auvergne

Cow’s milk blue cheese

Bleu de Gex

creamy cow’s milk blue

Bleu de Termignon

artisanal blue cheese from the Val-Cenis

Bleu des Causses

cow’s milk blue cheese from the plateaux

Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage

soft blue cheese from the Alps

Bougon

The ‘Camembert of goat cheese’

Boulette d’Avesnes

‘the devil’s suppository’

Brie

ancient cow’s milk cheese from the Ile de France

Brillat-Savarin

triple cream cheese

Brocciu

Corsican whey cheese

brous

piquant shepherd’s cheese

Brousse de Rove

rare fresh goat milk cheese

cachat

pungent cheese from Mont Ventoux

caillebotte

curds

Callu de cabrettu

ancient goat’s milk cheese

Camembert

THE classic French cheese

Cancoillotte

cheese curds from Franche Comté

Cantal

Cheddar-like cheese from the Massif Central

Casgiu Merzu

Corsica’s famous maggoty cheese

Cathare

goat’s cheese from Languedoc

cervelle de canut

creamy Lyonnaise cheese

Chabichou du Poitou

ancient goat cheese

Chaourse

a unique cow’s milk cheese

Charolais

cattle—or goat cheese

Chaud Biloute

cheese born to be baked

Chavroux

mild fresh goat’s cheese

Chevrotin

Creamy goat cheese from the Alps

chèvre

nanny goat

Claquebitou

goat cheese with a funny name from Burgundy

Clon

saffron cheese

Comté

Beloved cow’s milk cheese

Coulommiers

Brie’s smaller thicker cousin

Crayeux de Roncq

chalky cheese from the Belgian border

crème

cream

crème fraîche

light sour cream

Crottin de Chavignol

the little goat cheese of Sancerre

Curé Nantais

smoky, spicy cow’s milk cheese

Édel de Cléron

gooey cheese from Franche Comté

Emmental

holey cheese

Époisses

‘The king of cheeses’

Etorki

Basque sheep cheese

faisselle

soft cheese sold in its own little mould

fondue savoyarde

alpine cheesy business

Fort de Béthune

fermented cheese

Fourme de Montbrison

ancient blue cheese

Fourme d’Ambert

very mild blue cheese

fromage aux noix

soft cheese with walnuts

fromage blanc

creamy fresh cheese

fromage frais

fresh cheese

Gaperon

ancient cheese from the Auvergne

Gruyère

French-Swiss cow’s milk cheese

jonchée

mild curdled cheese

La Vache qui rit

France’s best selling cheese

Laguiole

Hard, slightly sharp cheese

lait

milk

Langres

cow’s milk cheese with a dip

Livarot

A smelly ‘Colonel’ from Normandy

Machecoulais

soft raw cow’s milk cheese

Mâconnais

goat cheese in three ages

Maroilles (and its cousins)

‘Old Stinker’

Mimolette

hard cheese ball from Lille

Mont d'Or

cow’s milk cheese, often baked

Morbier

cheese with the charcoal stripe in the middle

Munster

soft cheese from the Vosges

Neufchâtel

Normandy’s oldest cheese

Niolu

ancient shepherds’ cheese

Ossau-Iraty

ancient sheep cheese from the Pyrenees

Pélardon

goat cheese from the Cévennes

Picodon

spicy little goat cheese

pithiviers

sweet or savoury pie or hay-covered cheese

Pont l'Evêque

Normandy’s oldest cheese

Port Salut

velvety pasteurized cow’s milk cheese

Pouligny-Saint-Pierre

goat’s milk pyramid

Raclette

melted cheese and potatoes

Reblochon

the skiier’s cheese

retortillat de l’Aubrac

cheesy potatoes

Rigotte de Condrieu

goat cheese from the Lyonnaise

Rocamadour

little goat’s milk discs

Rochebaron

soft and mild cow’s milk blue

Roquefort

Big Blue

Saint Agur

double cream blue cheese

Saint-Félicien

soft cow’s milk cheese

Saint-Nectaire

cheese from the spa town

Saint-André

triple cream heaven

Saint-Marcellin

Lyon’s favourite cheese

Sainte Maure de Touraine

goat cheese log

Salers

summer cousin of Cantal

sarasson

beaten buttermilk cheese

Sartinesu

Corsican goat and sheep cheese

Selles-sur-Cher

charcoal-coated goat cheese from Berry

Soumaintrain

gooey cow’s milk cheese from Burgundy

Tome de Bray

cow’s milk cheese from Bray

Tome des Bauges

cow’s mik cheese from the Massif des Bauges

tomme fraîche

stringy fresh cow’s milk cheese

tomme

a round mountain cheese

Trappe d’Echourgnac

nut-flavoured cheese made by nuns

Trou du Cru

Smelly little cheese

vacherin

cake or cow’s milk cheese

Valençay

ash-covered goat cheese pyramid

Venaco

rustic mountain cheese from Corsica

yaourt

yogurt

Text © Dana Facaros

Image by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash