Beaucoup de Fromage est Très Bon!

This weekend was the Seattle Cheese Festival down at Pike Place Market. I hit downtown in the sun yesterday to check it out with Gary, Mike, and Diana. I don't know much about cheese, so it was definitely a primer for me - a tasty and free primer at that! We were exposed to cheeses of all consistencies, milks, and countries. After trying trying all sorts of varieties, I must say I'm still not into the goat and Europe imports some really savory cheeses.

I brought home some Terre des Volcans fourme d'ambert, a cow's milk blue cheese from Ambert in the French province of Auvergne. It's not too strong and is softer than most blue cheeses I've had. The cows were supposedly fed on a pasture over volcanic rock. The lady at the booth said that the cheese is aged in an old train tunnel - she had a picture to prove such a claim.

The milk is also thermalized, heated just below pasteurization longer to preserve enzymes and kill bacteria - so not pasteurized and not technically raw (although supposedly the FDA considers it raw).

If you see the 'Appellation d'Origine Protegee' under the name of the cheese, there is apparently a federal bureau in France that certifies certain geographic regions to their particular cheeses, wines, and butters. These are known as AOC (appellation d'origine controlee) products. Here's a list of AOC cheeses from Wikipedia.