La Fête du Fromage - May Round Up

This month's La Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting event is a fantastic mélange of five cheeses from five countries.

Danielle of Savor Culture takes us on a journey to the Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville, Georgia, in the southern United States, to taste Sevenwood. This is an aged, unpasteurized cow's milk cheese that is washed in balsamic vinegar. Sounds very interesting! Danielle describes the flavor as, "a little spicy, a little sweet, buttery...sensations of white peppercorn and cumin, with hay and butterscotch lingering on the tongue."

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Snowy white orbs of fresh, Italian Mozzarella were hand made by Allison of Local Lemons. Her well tested recipe produces a succulent, perfect looking cheese in only 30 minutes. A huge thank you to Allison for sharing her homemade mozzarella with us. I'm definitely giving it a try!

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A very tempting looking Spanish cheese called Torta la Serena was tasted by Nathalie of Spaced Out Ramblings. Even its name is seductive. She describes it as creamy and mild, with grassy and nutty flavors, and notes that the milk used to make this cheese is coagulated with thistle flowers instead of rennet. Fascinating!

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Camille of Croque-Camille learned that "Stichelton is what Stilton is supposed to be" when she visited the celebrated London cheese shop, Neal's Yard Dairy. As the story goes, when traditional English, unpasteurized Stilton was banned several years ago, a couple of cheesemakers invented Stichelton, the same cheese as Stilton, only made in the old way, with unpasteurized milk. Camille offers a very tantalizing description of this cheese, "...piquant yet smooth, with toasty, caramelized flavors to round it out."

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Le Cameau is a very special cheese from the Normandy region of France. I tasted it last summer and was immediately smitten with its unusual flavor. Le Cameau is an unpasteurized Camembert that has been soaked in Pommeau, then covered in a layer of crushed walnuts. This is a heady, interesting cheese that is especially good once it has had time to mature.

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Thanks to everyone who joined in La Fête du Fromage this month! I love being introduced to all of these different cheeses and hope that my readers are as inspired to try new cheese as I am.


Due to holidays and my work schedule for the next couple of months, La Fête du Fromage is taking the summer off. Look for more International cheese tasting adventures in September.

If you would like to join in the 9th Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting Event in the autumn, please have your entries to me by September 13. I'll post the round-up on September 15.

Tell us why you chose this particular cheese. Tell us how it tasted. Tell us about its texture and aroma. Did you eat it on its own? Or with something? Did you drink anything special with your cheese? Would you recommend it or not? Is there something unusual or interesting about it?

• Photos are wonderful, but not necessary
• Entries must contain the words La Fête du Fromage and contain a link to Chez Loulou
• Posts should be written specifically for La Fête du Fromage and not entered in any other food blog event
• Please send the link to your post to louloufrance (at) gmail (dot) com with the words Fête du Fromage in the subject line