My writer friend Marita, living in the south of France with her froggie husband Alain, wrote in one of her books 'Where the heart is' about Alain making Aïoli and adding even more garlic than what the recipe required.
Well, on Saturday I had an outing with our local Auvergne 'Slowfood' group and we visited the last 'artisanal' producer of a very local cheese, Gaperon d'Auvergne. (there are of course industrial producers making this cheese with pasturised milk). Gaperon is made of unpasturised cow's milk, garlic and pepper! Alain would've loved this visit!!Patricia Ribier and her partner peels more than 350 kilograms of garlic per year as this is one of the ingredients, along with pepper, going into this very delicious cheese. You must of course like garlic. The suble flavour when you bite into the Gaperon is a one off expercience!
To obtain this delightful cheese, they use a mix of milk - Beautiful gray-brown 'Brune des Alpes' cows and Black and White Holsteins. This makes for a creamy but not too creamy milk with a high protein content.
After the cream is skimmed off, Patricia puts huge ladles full in thin cotton bags where it is hung for a day or two. Then the subtle process of mixing the garlic an pepper into this creamy cheese. Her very private secret recipe. And then more hanging in a 'sauna' like room untill ready to go off to the markets or to various 'maitre fromager' who order this delicious cheese directly from PatriciaWe were treated to Gaperon in various stages of finition and I must say, that it is a difficult choice. A toss-up between the very fresh mixture - almost a creamcheese with the garlic and pepper very present -or the Gaperon that has been stored for 4 months! A divine mixture of mature cheese with the garlic less present!
What heaven it is to live in France!! Do come over for a tasting!!
Life is about sharing
Bisous
Lynn
1 comment:
I'll be right over!
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