La Fête du Fromage - September Round Up

Ok, my "sort of" vacation is over. On to the cheese!

September's La Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting Event round-up offers an intriguing mix of cheeses from around the world. Thanks to all who participated!


The first entry has such a strong aroma that it is sold in small plastic containers to keep the olfactory offense at a minimum. Ladybird, who lives in Belgium and writes Wishing I were in France, recently tasted Herve, a notoriously stinky Belgian cheese. It is often compared to Munster or Maroilles, and despite the overpowering aroma, its flavor is quite soft. I must look out for this one!


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Camille, of the delicious blog, Croque-Camille, went on a Corsican cheese hunt in Paris and discovered these two ewe's milk cheeses, Tomme Corse and A Filetta. The Tomme Corse has "an earthy, mushroomy, savory richness" underneath its mite nibbled crust, and A Filetta was quite smelly and pungent tasting.
The last time I had Tomme Corse was more than two years ago. Now I'm inspired to buy another wedge.



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Robusto. What a fantastic name! Michelle in Portland recently discovered La Fête du Fromage and happily tasted and wrote about one of her favorite cheeses on her blog, Je Mange la Ville. Her description of Robusto made me laugh out loud..."Kind of like if Gouda and Parmesan had a tasty, delicious love child."


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A gorgeous slab of rich and buttery Fontina is Nathalie's entry to la Fête. I always count on her to share scrumptious looking Italian cheeses with us on her blog, Spaced Out Ramblings. Fontina is made in the Val d'Aosta from cow's milk and is perfect for melting on pizza or piadine, a type of flat bread from Emilia-Romagna. She describes its flavor as "mild, slightly nutty and you can still feel the grass in the aftertaste." I agree that Fontina is fantastic!


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Rachel of The Crispy Cook took an idyllic looking Cheese Tour around Washington County, NY where she was able to taste the creations of several small dairy farms. Samples included feta, herb and peppered chèvres, Caerphilly Cheese, Pumpkin Spice Quark, fresh mozzarella and High Rock Cheese, which was described as a Gruyère-like cheese made from goat's milk.
It is encouraging to see small cheese producers being supported by the public. Thanks for sharing the tour with us Rachel!



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My entry is a cheese that I tasted last summer, Le Roves des Garrigues. This is a tasty little goat's cheese with lots of herb, lemon and pepper flavors that is produced here in the Languedoc-Roussillon. I believe it is available in the States if anyone across the pond would like to give it a try. I highly recommend it!


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Thank you again everyone!
Can't wait to see what you share with us in October for the 10th Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting Event.
If you would like to join in, please have your entries to me by October 13. The entire round-up will be posted on October 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

Sweet and Sour Fish (like you've never seen before)


READ MORE
Over at SF Station is my review of Jai Yun a most remarkable Shanghainese restaurant where this dish was served (the date should be June 2 not May 1)


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Lunch in Santa Barbara

A few days ago, we visited Santa Barbara, North of Santa Monica - where we're spending some days. Santa Barbara was founded by the Spanish in 1782 and keeps to this day a traditional style.The port is a forest of masts of all sizes! A very pleasant and relaxing walk.
We had lunch at Brophy's, a place where fish and seafood are king and that was recommended to us by friends! It's on a second floor on the wharf, you have to see the sign from a distance in order not to miss it. It has a deck with several tables, mostly in the sun, with an incredible view. The pleasant though a bit noisy large room, has many neat square tables and a counter where you can have a drink while waiting for a table to be available.My friend had a shrimp salad, very nicely presented with giant black olives, a hard boiled egg cut in two, half avocado open like a fan, all on a bed of lettuce.I ordered grilled wild salmon. You have a choice of chowder or salad, I had the latter, and it comes with rice pilaf or fries, I also had the latter, and home made cole slaw. The salmon came with a sauce on top, and I am no fan of sauces when fish is grilled so a pushed it to the sides. The salmon was perfectly cooked.
Traditional and tasty.
I had a glass of Chardonnay wine with my meal.
No desserts at Brophy's, so we headed to an ice cream parlor after this very good lunch.

A somputous farewell dinner in San Francisco

My hosts, Becky and Charles, lived in Japan for four years. They brought back not only wonderful souvenirs of their experience, but also many objects that surround them and recreate a special atmosphere in their Montclair home.
For our special Friday 15 dinner, we set the table using a white Damascus tablecloth, and we laid an Obi that Becky brought from Japan as a runner. The chinaware that Becky chose (we hesitated between her family Limoges with tender green flowers and the simpler white plates with a Bordeaux rim) matched perfectly well the colors of the obi.
Becky made a delightful bouquet of tea color roses - though she took in Japan ikebana classes, she settled for a round shaped bouquet.
In the menu: Broccoli flans, pork tenderloin a la moutarde de Dijon, onions compote, and pears in red wine. We had a red Saumur Champigny wine with this meal.
What a delightful evening!

Amy Goes to Europe




I am going to spend a week in London and a week in Barcelona. So now is your big chance to influence my plans:

Where should I eat?

Where should I shop?

What sights should I see?

I've been to both places, but not for a while so the more current the recommendations the better. Still not sure if I will be posting while I'm away, but either way I promise to share all the details when I get back. I leave June 5th so let me know your top picks soon. Thanks and muchas gracias!

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Hot Chocolate Lounges





Something amazing that happens when you drink really good hot chocolate. It's like you're mainlining happiness. Maybe because it's creamy, warm and already melted, that mellowing euphoria hits you hard, harder even than when nibbling on a chocolate bar.

Needless to say, I was really thrilled to write about the hot chocolate lounge phenomenon for Epicurious in their Daily Dish section. If you think a chocolate lounge sounds like a piece of furniture, think again. Chocolate lounges or cafes are places where you can linger over any number of deluxe chocolate beverages and experience the euphoria for yourself.

Here in San Francisco we have quite a few places to choose from such as the newly opened Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe on Chestnut Street, Bittersweet Cafe on Fillmore or my personal favorite, CocoaBella on Union Street. CocoaBella serves eight different flavors of European style hot chocolate each of which is rich and thick and made with melted chocolate, not just cocoa powder.


Coincidentally last week Christopher Elbow stopped by to make some incredible hot chocolate using his hot chocolate mix as a base but blending it with ingredients like coconut milk, spices, passion fruit juice, and a mixture of citrus juices including tangerine, grapefruit and orange. I know what you're thinking, hot chocolate and orange juice? Won't it curdle and taste weird? Well, no! It tasted great. In fact I think I could drink it everyday for breakfast. When you think about it, anything that works in a chocolate confection ought to work in a hot chocolate flavor too. This is one trend I can get behind.

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Over at Epicurious is my take on Chocolate Lounges I hope you'll check it out!


Great Grape Day on Wine Sediments


It's Great Grape Day on Wine Sediments, so over the next few hours you can look forward to posts from all over the world about our grape variety of the month: Zinfandel.

Since Zinfandel is barely used in French wines, I thought I didn't have much to say on the subject. But then my memory took me back a few years -- all right, a few decades, but you didn't have to point it out!

Read all about it.