Tomme de Savoie
Raw-milk cow cheese from France, from Le Marché du Quartier
This wedge of cheese is grubby on the outside; gray and brown, pitted and wrinkled. Inside it’s a soft moist translucent creamy paste dotted with little holes. The inside tastes tastes tangy and bright and grassy and citrussy, the rind composty and dusty and mushroomy. It’s a happy contrast of taste and texture.
Fourme de Ambert
Pasteurized cow’s blue cheese, from France, bought from Le Marché du Quartier
This is a wide round slice of blue cheese; pale and creamy and scattered with green gray mould. It’s a pale yellow nearer the rind, and almost white in the middle.
Fourme de Ambert’s a smooth and gentle cheese, tasting of hazelnuts and mushrooms, mellow and creamy. But there’s also an almost spiky, slightly liquorice fruitiness, and a decent hit of saltiness. I get a slight whomph of booze from it, and it prickles my mouth very gently. The rind has a gentle crumbliness that contrasts with the silkiness of the paste.
Abondance
Raw-milk hard cow cheese from France, also bought from Le Marché du Quartier
This slice of cheese is pockmarked with little holes. The rind’s a darker orange colour, and inside it’s a pale and creamy yellow. It has a mild sweet nutty taste, with lots of toffee towards the rind. It’s fruity and juicy, and has a smidgen of herbal and floral flavours in the background. Initially there’s a slightly chewy plastic texture, but it very quickly – and surprisingly – melts away in my mouth.