Blue raw cow’s milk cheese, made high up on a French alp, and bought from Mons.
Lunch is a thin wedge of this odd-looking cheese. The outer third the of the cheese is blue, and further towards the center it’s a soft pale crumbly primrose yellow. There’s not much veining in the blue, as such – it’s dense and widespread enough that the cheese itself appears to be a marbled, mottled blue colour. This cheese isn’t pierced with a blue mould – instead the blue mould is left to work its way in naturally.
I start to eat this from the centre outwards. The cheese is soft and moist, with a crumbly, granular texture. It’s slightly tart and acidic, and nutty and fudgey, especially towards the rind. It tastes of bubblegum and flowers, and also wonderfully buttery. As I nibble along my slice, from centre to edge, the cheese suddenly starts to taste blue. It’s very mellow. All the sweet, tart, floral flavours of the inside are still pinging about, but with an overlay of gently spicy blue. The rind, when I reach the outside, is crumby and sandy, and not all that interesting to eat. The rest of the cheese is, though! It’s subtle and delicious, and unusual – like no other blue cheese I’ve ever tried.