Emily in France 🇫🇷 I'm Officially a Cheese Judge
I am a cheese judge.
This past week, I returned to Wales for the second time in less than a month as a judge in the World Cheese Awards, basically the Oscars of cheese. And while full coverage of my experience is forthcoming for InsideHook, I thought I'd share five realities of cheese-judging with you.
1. It is thirsty work.
This year's competition received a record 4,434 entries, 45 of which were on the table I was assigned to judge, along with two colleagues. We had three hours to get through all of them, and while the bites we took were small, that's a lot of salt. We were given apple slices to help when our palates grew overwhelmed, but I also drank several liters of water.
2. Cheese people are so wonderfully nerdy.
Partaking in this experience was a bit like what I imagine going to ComicCon is for comic book fans. Judges included journalists, cheesemongers, and cheesemakers, and I felt like I'd found my people when tones literally became hushed upon evocation of Joe Schneider of Stichelton Dairy, or when fangirling was totally understandable when, at the judges' dinner, I realized I was sitting next to Ben Trethowan, who makes Gorwydd Caerphilly. That I was not the only one to cheer unironically as our panel of 16 Super Judges took to the stage to judge the final round of Super Golds was pretty amazing.
3. They weren't all winners.
With over 4,000 cheeses in competition, it's not surprising that some weren't to my taste. From ho-hum cheeses that were perfectly fine to spit-take offenders, the proportion of cheeses I didn't fall in love with was about on par with those I did. And while I'll keep my least faves to myself to protect the innocent, I did speak with one judge at another table who outright refused to try a cheese.
4. It took two days to recover.
I have been defeated by cheese once before, at a raclette restaurant. (I do not know why I was eating raclette in May in Cannes, but I was, and it was a mistake.) This defeat was far less dramatic, but I did steer clear of cheese for two days following the judging. (I broke my fast with a far more reasonable amount of raclette. I never learn.)
5. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
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Cheese of the Week
It has taken fall a long time to arrive in Paris (I'm still contending with nighttime mosquitoes), but since the onset of daylight saving time, there's definitely something more autumnal in the air, which puts me in the mood for Saint-Nectaire. This semi-pressed, semi-washed cheese belies categorization into just one of the five major families of French cheese, with a fuzzy rind and a nutty character with a touch of sweetness, not dissimilar to that sort of mild, lactic, milky funk evoked by something like Babybel. (But like... way better.) Traditionally, this cheese is aged on beds of rye grass in cellars formed by long-ago lava flows in the Auvergne. (Read more in Atlas Obscura!) As such, it's particularly delicious on dense rye bread with sweet cereal aromas.
There are few cheeses sexier than a perfectly aged Saint-Marcellin. Gooey but still mild, it's a bona fide crowd-pleaser – and given its diminutive size, it's the perfect portion for one! (OK, OK... I'll share.)
To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and tune into the Terroir Podcast, where Caroline Conner and I delve into France's cheese, wine, and more one region at a time.
What I'm Eating
Banh mi and doughnuts might not seem like an obvious pairing, but they marry two parts of Khanh-Ly Hyunh’s heritage to a T. More – including tasting notes on this durian doughnut – on the blog.
Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france and on the blog.
Where I'm Going
1. To Brasserie Rosie, to make sure it's still as good as I remember. (I have very high hopes!)
2. To Plomb du Cantal, to report on a new story for Food52 I'm pretty excited about as winter settles in.
3. To la Ciotat, for the inaugural edition of TERRE/MER!
What I'm Writing
1. From the archives: Since the annual egg-mayo contest is coming up in just a week, I thought I'd resurface my coverage of the resurgence of this bistro staple for Food52.
2. This geologist is on a mission to make mead that doesn't taste like cardboard. For InsideHook.
3. Here's how to make Hugh Acheson's chicken sandwich at home. For InsideHook.
What I'm Saying
Some cognates have wholly different meanings in French and in English, but others differ merely in their connotation. To explore one flagrant difference is Kathryn English, a researcher and linguist at Université de Paris II, Panthéon-Assas. She's joining me on Navigating the French to discuss a word that has strikingly positive connotations in English... and strikingly negative ones in French: individualisme.
What I'm Reading
1. I’ve noticed definite changes of late on dessert menus, which are veering simpler and more savory, but this article shines a light on the fact that this isn’t simply trend-driven. Pastry chefs are disappearing from restaurants due to lack of funds and the idea that pastry departments are somehow less essential than a pastry cook doing work far beyond their pay grade. In Bon Appétit.
2. On days where the travel gods feel like they're aligned against me, I'll forever remember this father-son pair. Some trips are just bad, but I can almost guarantee you’ve never had one as bad as these guys. In Outside Online.
3. Climate-resilient foods of the future highlighted by experts include fonio, lesser-known beans, and coffee from Sierra Leone. In Smithsonian Mag.
A bientôt !