Cheese - France has over 350 kinds and is still counting!

Anyone who knows me, knows my love for cheese, especially French cheeses. For lunch and dinner in France, for me, NOT to have a cheese course (served as they do in France – right after the main meal and before dessert) it is because I have no doubt died! In fact my dream is that if I should die, that I die in France right after the cheese course! It would be a happy death!

I am always on the outlook for a new cheese I have not tried and this past November, during my travel in the Brittany region (they do not really produce any cheese there of note) I happened to try a cheese known as Boulette d’Avesnes and fell in love with it. The cheese is produced in Northern France.Boulette d'Avesnes is a cone shaped gourmet cheese with a natural rind given a dark red color by the use of annatto or paprika. It has a very strong taste. Its nickname is 'suppositoire du diable' (the devil's suppository - an awful name for a great cheese).
The soft curd is kneaded and mashed with parsley, tarragon, pepper and paprika and shaped by hand into a pointed pear. This gourmet cheese is typical for spicy texture. Maturing takes two to three months.I recommend eating the Boulette d'Avesnes with rich bread, and a cold beer ( or an ice-cold Martini in the USA) and you will experience that the spiciness and creaminess of the cheese .