Sup!
I saw this cheese map on fb the other day and thought I'd share it with you.
Anyway, I think it looks cool, but I'd like to know whether it's any accurate, since I'm planning to travel around Europe this summer. Also, any recommendations would be very cool too! Thanks!
Cool map. I'm admittedly very French and recommend heartily their cheeses; of those, I love, and used to make, alpine varieties: Abondance, Beaufort, Gruyère (though the Swiss are touchy about the name - since the Village is on their side of the border!), bit further up, and by my taste, just a touch milder and with less character, Comté. Soft from the area, reblochon ("re-pinch." Lore is the cheese made from a second milking, as farmers get taxed on output; they wait till taxman has left, and milk again, voila, reblochon). Daily farmhouse, tommes, of which there are a million interpretations. Over by the Pyrénées, Ossau-Iraty, a sheep's milk "shepherd's" cheese. Delicious. Up North Brie and Camembert, of course, but try to get these produced by individual artisans. There are a lot of industrial makers of these cheeses, and there is absolutely no comparison. Roquefort, of course. Sheep's milk blue, and I'm insane for it (along withh Stilton, from England). If you happen to go to Burgundy, look up epoisse. Be warned, it is a soft, very stinky, very wonderful cheese. I seem to recall it was Napoleon's fave.
There are a ton of others, obviously. These just happen to be on my short list.
I am (sadly) not very familiar with British cheeses. They have a long and storied history and are world class in quality. I cannot recommend highly enough bandaged cheddars - nothing like your grocery-store variety cheddar. Exploding with character and absolutely delicious. I'm also very fond of a good Stilton. Doesn't topple, for me, my favorite blue (roquefort) but it has its own sensory qualities that bring it to proudly stand alone as royalty in its own right.
Probably tough to get ahold of it, but a nice book on cheeses from these two countries is
The Cheeses and Wines of England and France, with Notes on Irish Whiskey
, by John Ehle.
Know very little of cheeses from other countries. I'd be utterly remiss if I didn't just give a general Got to Switzerland." Their cheeses rival (but the French are better, of course. Is there any question?) French toe-to-toe. On either side of the border, look up Vacherin Mont D'Or. Big hullabaloo about who owns the name, years ago. Switzerland won. Irony is it was partly over a death from eating the cheese, and raw milk as usual was brought up as a villain. Problem was, the death was in Switzerland where they use pasteurized milk. France uses raw milk, and in my opinion, it's far better.
Love Dutch gouda (pronounced "Gow-da" and not "Goo-da", by the way. Helps you look really cool if you ask for some at a cheese shop).
Italy: Gorgonzola, another sensory option in blue, Grana Padano, true (meaning, smaller producer, if you can find it) Parmigiano Reggiano. Pecorino and Ragusano both. Tallegio, from Lombardy. Delicious. My wife calls it "her lover." That means I'm either screwed, or she just loves it that much. If the latter, I'll have to accept her boyfriend from time to time is just what it is.
So many more. I hope this is somehow helpful to you. Have a wonderful time.
