Emily in France 🇫🇷 (Also known as... that cheese girl.)
I came for the cheese.
I've been living in France for nearly fifteen years, which means that I've answered the question, "So, why did you move to France?" a conservative 90,000 times.
Sometimes, I tell the truth: that I never meant to end up here, that I kind of didn't realize how much I loved it until I almost lost my residence permit and realized living in France was worth fighting for. Sometimes I tell a story that sounds more like a series of events than anything with a real arc or sense of causality: I came for study abroad; I liked it; I met someone; I got my Master's; I got a job; I realized that working as a freelancer in a country without socialized healthcare was too much for my anxious little heart.
But most often, my tongue-in-cheek answer is simple:
I came for the cheese.
It's short. It's sweet. It makes people laugh. And while it's not strictly true, cheese is indeed pervasive in my French memories, whether it's, on my first trip to Paris, hearing my dad, upon facing off with a gilded cheese cart in a restaurant that now eludes me, demanding "all of the ones that smell like socks" or my first memory of bonding with my host mother in the North when I was 14 and basically mute, so devoid was I of French vocabulary words, over, of all things, a mutual love of Roquefort (something that the five other family members couldn't stand).
I've spent the past few years of my career telling the stories of the Camembert producers fighting to maintain raw milk status for their cheese, of the washed rind Maroilles that Northerners dip in their coffee, of the semi-pressed Saint-Nectaire aged in volcanic cellars, of the grey-tinged, dried Brie noir that was once the sole purview of locals of Meaux and has now become a Parisian fromagerie stalwart. And while I'm intrigued by all French food, there's something special about the living, breathing, delicious thing that is fromage.
A friend recently told me that when she thinks of me, she thinks, "cheese." And as long as that's no comment on the smell that accompanies me when I walk into a room, I'm very happy to be "that cheese girl."
And I'm even happier that you are along for the ride!
Cheese of the Week
Tomme aux fleurs is my go-to when I'm building a cheese plate as beautiful as it is delicious. This cheese, which you'll find in mountainous regions from Austria to Germany to Switzerland to France, is coated in a layer of edible wildflowers. This cheese is highly variable, with some having the dense, smooth texture of Beaufort and others, like this one, being a little bit hole-ier, more like Swiss Tilsit. I like the latter, as it tends to have a funkier flavor and a creamy, semi-soft texture.
Discover more of my fave cheeses on Instagram!
What I'm Eating
Fine dining is in a weird, weird way, these days, with some declaring it dead and others claiming it’s more essential to the dining scene than ever before. If you're on the lookout for a place to enjoy all that pomp and circumstance Paris is known for, 7th arrondissement Cleo is an exquisite choice.
Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france.
Where I'm Going
Now that we're deconfined here in Paris, it seems high time I bring this section back! Here's where I'm headed in Paris and beyond this week. For more ideas, tune into Don't Miss This, a podcast hosted by the incomparable Jennifer Geraghty, producer extraordinaire of Paris Underground Radio.
1. To Le Mermoz, to try Thomas Graham's original, beautiful small plates.
2. To Père Lachaise, to haunt fabulist La Fontaine and dramaturge Molière, among others.
3. To the Musée Carnavalet, to check out not only the newly renovated museum of the city of Paris, but also the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit.
What I'm Writing
1. Intermittent fasting isn't just for dudes, but women have our own rules when it comes to IF. Check out Organic Authority for more.
2. Want to make the perfect cheese board without spending a fortune at a cheesemonger's (or on a round trip ticket to Paris?) Then feast your eyes on my cheese girl-approved grocery store cheeses for Mashed.
3. Ballet dancer Andile Ndlovu is back at work dancing for the Washington Ballet. He's sharing what brought him to the capital from South Africa – and his favorite spots in D.C. – for Inside Hook.
What I'm Saying
1. French is a gendered language, which means that not just people, but objects from table to knife to, yep, COVID, have a gender (feminine, masculine, and feminine, fwiw.) To speak about the nuances of genre, I'm speaking with Loic Bourdeau, a professor at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette specializing in feminist and queer studies, on Navigating the French.
2. On Chez Toi, Caroline Conner and I pair your home-cooked recipes with the perfect wine and most complementary cheese. This week’s Baked Pasta with Feta recipe from Gail Boisclair transforms feta and tomatoes baked in the oven into a tasty pasta sauce. Caroline chooses to pair it with a Greek white, while I'm opting for cheeses with a note of sweetness. Want to know which and why? Tune in!
(And if you want your recipe featured in a future episode, shoot me an email! We're always up for a challenge.)
What I'm Reading
1. It’s hard to sustain a secret in literature, but Brit Bennett does so beautifully in The Vanishing Half. More on the blog about this multi-generational epic of half-truths and total lies all situated around one basic secret: that of twin sisters who opt to live their lives in wholly different ways.
2. I read once that one should never befriend a writer, because your life will show up in their art (yep, still talking about the Bad Art Friend). This piece from The New Yorker asks whether you’re less of a Bad Art Friend if you co-opt someone else’s life to make good art.
3. Where does our inspiration come from? For Paul McCartney, the answer is random and wholly beautiful. In New Yorker.
A bientôt !