Cheese and wine are absolutely central elements of the French diet and French food.

In France, traditionally people ate a warm meal in the middle of the day and then a lighter (often cold) meal in the evening. This food tradition coincides with the French philosophy of shutting everything down in the middle of the day for a well-deserved break. Children go home from school and adults go home to eat lunch together. This is gradually changing, but in general you will find this to be true when you visit France.

Wine and Cheese Etiquette

French adults do generally drink wine in the middle of the day. Colleagues often go out for lunch together instead of going home, and a glass or two of wine is considered common practice. Wine has always been an integral part of the French dining table, perhaps as central to the French table as water is to the American table. Generally speaking, wine is not overindulged in in France; sipping wine throughout lunch or dinner is a common practice. French dining etiquette says that one should wait to have their glass refilled by someone else at the table. With cheese, it's the opposite. A platter of cheese will be passed around the table and you should take some of each cheese that you would like to eat and put it on your plate. Traditionally, the bread sits on the table instead of your plate, and you break off bite-sized pieces of bread and spread cheese from your own plate onto your bite of bread. Culturally-speaking, wine and cheese are central elements of a French meal. Fortunately, because the many variants and flavors of both wine and cheese are delicious, developing an appreciation for these important French foods takes no time at all!

Most wines and cheeses in France are specific to a certain region. This is partly because of cultural history, but also very much related to the geographical differences between different regions. For example, the grapes that are grown in the Champagne and Alsace (north and northeastern) regions of France are very different from the grapes grown in Bordeaux or Provence, which are both southern regions. In wine production, the region of origin is a very important factor.

Regional Wines
On most bottles of French wine you will see the expression vin d'AOC. AOC stands for appellation d'origine contrle. This stamp of approval means that there has been a surveillance process to make sure that this wine, claiming to be from Cheverny, really is produced in that region. This process not only ensures quality control, but it also protects the regional history and tradition of a wine. If a producer is growing grapes in Spain and

then putting a label on the bottle that says vin de Bordeaux (Bordeaux wine), this undermines the production of genuine Bordeaux wines. While it's not necessarily that wines without this vin d'AOC stamp of approval are terrible wines, but do consider looking for this phrase when purchasing wine in France. The Institut National d'Appellations d'Origine (the National Institute for Regional Place Names) was started in 1905 in order to protect agricultural products and their history. For more than 100 years, this institute has ensured that the regional history of French wine and cheese is not taken over into a nationwide variant of brie or a general vin rouge (red wine).

The variety of French cheeses is acknowledged around the world. They have been classified into seven categories.

1. White mould cheeses

Brie de Meaux, Camembert de Normandie. These cheeses are usually made from cows milk. The technique as follows: the first process is mixed curdling resulting from rennet being combined with raw milk and adding lactic acid bacteria. The curd is then placed gently into moulds in order not to break it. After draining, the cheese is removed from the mould and salted. Then, the cheeses are dusted with penicillium. The growth of penicillium will create the external white mould called the flower. The cheeses are then stored in a curing room, a warm and ventilated room. The curing room is operating properly when green apple odours can be smelled. Cheeses stay there for 10 to 14 days; they are then dried and wrapped. They are then young; the pte is firm and chalk-white. Then with time they become creamy. The pte must then be even and slightly odorous. This type of cheese is optimal after 4 or 5 weeks. Beyond that time, they start to show a red or brown pigmentation on the rind and give off an unpleasant ammonia smell.

2. Washed rind cheeses

Epoisses, Livarot, Munster (or Munster Grom), Maroilles, Pont-lEvque. Initially, production of these cheeses is technically similar to producing white mould cheeses. They are not dusted with penicillium, but lightly dried after being removed from the mould, then brushed with morge (a watery solution mixed with natural colouring). Some rinds are washed with alcohol marc de Bourgogne (brandy), beer or Muscadet. They are usually stocked in a warm room, the curing room, and they are ventilated, turned over and brushed many times. These cheeses have a longer affinage period and they are considered optimal after 6 to 8 weeks. Usually, these cheeses are particularly odorous but very tasty.

3. Uncooked semi-hard cheeses

Tomme, Morbier, Raclette. This is a category of cheeses we can consider as a catchhall. Indeed, it includes a large number of farm-made, traditional and industrial tommes, both similar and different. The main difference lies in the affinage process. The affinage stage also has considerable influence on the taste and texture of these products.

The milk is heated to 36C, and then it is rapidly curdled with rennet. After slicing and working it in a vat, the curd is directly moulded, then placed under presses in order to rapidly drain the cheese. Most of the cheese listed above are available in Australia. However, they are all made from pasteurized milk, except Roquefort which received authorization in 2005 to be imported to Australia despite the raw milk it contains.

4. Hard Cheeses
Beaufort, Comt. Cooked pressed ptes are generally big round cheeses. They are also called hard pte or fromage de garde. They are generally found in mountainous regions, as these cheeses are often made by shepherds during seasonal migration up to the mountain pastures (transhumance). They are cows milk cheeses. To make them, milk is heated at 32-34C, rennet is added, and the curdling must be quick. The curd is sliced and the mixture kneaded until the grain of curd reduces to the size of a grain of wheat. Then the cooking of the cheese starts. This consists in increasing the temperature to more than 50C while shaking the curd. The grain is then gathered in large cloths: this is the moulding.

5. Blue Cheeses
Bleu dAuvergne, Fourme dAmbert, Roquefort. This cheese family is by far the most recognisable by the colour of the mould, which is blue or blue-green, and which develops inside the pte. It is said that originally a mouldy piece of bread apparently transmitted the mould to the cheeses placed next to it! Milk is heated at 32C and coagulated with lactic ferments and rennet. The curd is sliced and naturally drained. After draining, it is crumbled, moulded and salted. At this time it is pricked, i.e. aerations are made inside the pte with needles, in order to bring in the oxygen needed for blue mould (called Penicillium roqueforti). The cheeses are then placed in cool and rather damp cellars, and are wrapped in thin pewter or aluminium foils. When the cheeses reach maturity, they are ready for tasting. These are cheeses with a pronounced and powerful taste and subtle flavour!

6. Goats milk cheeses

Fleur du Maquis, Rocamadour, Sainte-Maure Caprifeuille, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Soignon This family is defined not by the type of production but by the animal providing the milk! All types of cheese with this goat flavour are in this category. They are usually small local and farmbased factories, with wild rind cheeses, without any addition of Penicillium, and they are unwashed. Draining is often slow and done naturally. In this category are also found cheeses covered with a thin layer of charcoal; they are then called ashed cheeses. This process was used in the old days to protect the cheeses from insects.

7. Ewes milk cheeses

Ossau-Iraty The ewe family is similar to the goat family! The animals produce richer milk, but in a smaller quantity (they give barely more than one litre of milk per day). Ewes milk cheeses are often considered to be strong and characteristic cheeses. This doesnt come from the kind of milk, but simply from the way it is worked.