A little-talked-about, soft French cheese is Epoisses (pronounced: E-Pwah). Epoisses is a fairly strong “rindwashed” soft cheese from the Burgundy region. It is thicker than a Camembert, and like other rind washed cheeses, is yellowish on the outside, and white on the inside. The white centre is often almost crumbly, while the cheese under the skin remains very soft. This is a great cheese to substitute into potatoes au gratin. It’ll bring tears of joy to your eyes. Your customers will really appreciate at it you introduce them to this. I can’t talk about French cheeses without talking about Munster. Munster is a fairly strong rind-washed soft cheese from the Vosges Mountains in Eastern France. It is definitely not a cheese for those who do not like strong tasting varieties. Munster generally has a thicker rind which some eat, others cut off. Even an unripe Munster is tasty; a ripe one - which may well be quite hard on the inside - will be very strong. It’s stinky and strong, but it is delicious! SEMI-SOFT cheeses have a texture which is only slightly firmer than the soft category. These cheeses contain relatively high moisture contents, though they typically have longer shelf-lives than softer types. Two popular, and two of my favorites, are Morbier and Raclette. Morbier’s bark is worse than its bite. Although it is strongly aromatic, it has a surprisingly mild flavor with a nutty aftertaste, making it an ideal dessert cheese or as a replacement for cheddar in macaroni and cheese; or any other dish that you may have cheddar in. At the end of this article, I have a great recipe that you can share with your customers – it’s Morbier and Cucumber Sandwiches. Trust me, they’ll thank you for it! From the French word racler, which means “to scrape,” Raclette is often heated and then scraped onto a plate. With a salty, nutty flavor and silky, smooth texture, Raclette is delicious melted and served with bread, atop mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, or cured meats. The next category is HARD cheeses. The French hard cheeses are wide-ranging and come in complex flavors from nutty to piquant. They are the cheese we turn to for cooking and melting. These cheeses, typically large and very heavy, fall into two distinct sub-groupings: hard table or grating cheeses, and mountain-style cheeses. Both start from the same process. The curds, after forming, are cut up into smaller pieces, and then further heated to cause the release of excess moisture. The end result is some of the world’s most popular cheeses. Some of my favorites that are in the KeHE line-up are Emmental, Bethmale and Cantal. Emmental has a light, sharp tastes and is perfect for a sandwich, burger or even cooked into an omelette. One of the most popular uses for Emmental is melted for a cheese fondue. The Bethmale is the best-known cheese of the Pyrenees region and dates back to the time of the Moors. The Burgers with Bleu d ’Auvergne ingredients 3 lbs lean grass-fed ground beef 4 oz crumbled Bleu d’ Auvergne cheese ½ c minced chives ¼ t hot sauce 1 t Worcestershire sauce 1 t black pepper 1 ½ t salt 1 t dry mustard Crispy Cantal Chips ingredients 3 T salted butter (softened) 1 ½ cups grated Cantal 2 T milk 1 egg 1 pinch baking powder 1 c flour salt & pepper preparation preparation Mix ground beef, Bleu d’Auvergne, chives, hot sauce, Worcestershire, pepper, salt and mustard. Cover and refrigerate for 1 - 2 hours. Preheat grill to high. Form the beef mixture into 10 -12 patties. Oil grill. Grill patties 3 - 10 minutes, depending on your liking. Add a slice of Bleu d’Auvergne on top if you like, and any other garnish you enjoy. 18 ~ Fresh Products 2013 - 2014 Annual Catalog In a mixing bowl, work the butter with a fork until smooth. Add the grated Cantal, the milk and the whole egg. Mix and season. Add the baking powder mixed with the flour. Quickly knead the dough on the countertop and roll it into sausageshaped lengths. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°. Cut the dough into rounds ¼ inch thick. Place these rounds on a baking pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Serve as an appetizer or replacement for potato chips. Serves 6