July 23, 2010

Saint Nectaire Cheese

It appears that Khavanu has fallen into a deep food coma with the lack of posts, but rest assured that this short hiatus will soon pass. I have been traveling for almost a month, and will resume posts, updates, recipes etc. soon.
So, I am in Geneva, a lovely town that seems to cater to almost everyone else, but not its locals.  It is an expensive city, and of course, food and drink is included in that category (I should add that maybe it's locals like paying out the wazoo for dining out, but I'm going to say that I have not yet found this part of the city). I did find, on a day trip to Aigle at the other end of Lac Laman a Carrefour Market (yes, basically a mondo-grocery store with an insane cheese selection). There, Karl and I, spent the last bit of money we had on picnic items and picked up some Saint Nectaire cheese (it was 2 E, and really I had no idea what I was buying) and it was utterly delicious and divine and it forced me to write this.

Then I had to look it up. I found the French wiki site for Saint Nectaire cheese
and learned that there is an organization (with support from the EU) that is working to protect food origins, as in a protected designation of food origin or PDO.  That makes me pretty happy, and it also probably means that this is health-food, right?!

It's semi-soft, nutty, creamy, has a soft thin rind and tastes delicious on crusty bread. A cheese worth seeking out.




2 comments:

  1. The AOC (Appelation d'origine Controlee) is a very common (esp. in France) 'mark of approval' for quality, manufacturing process and esp. origin (say "terroir"). You can have it on all kinds of produce, but you see it mainly on wines and cheeses.

    You guys ran out of money? Aww, they must not be paying Karl enough out there in Leuven :(

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  2. Surely not enough to keep eating AOC cheeses =)

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