- Nearly 40 years ago, Pascal Beillevaire founded the cheese dairy of the same name in Machecoul in Loire-Atlantique.
- Tray, camembert, butter ... He gives his opinion on these questions that arise on cheese.
EDIT >>> On the occasion of the 16th Cheese Fair, which is held this week in Paris, we invite you to rediscover this article published on December 18, 2019
Even after a dozen oysters and the traditional chestnut turkey, it's hard to resist a piece of cheese. To help you prepare your Christmas tray as well as possible, or to combat certain misconceptions about these dairy products, the cheese maker Pascal Beillevaire has answered five questions that all cheese fondues ask themselves.
Is cheese eaten plain or is it ok with buttered bread?
Are you one of those people who can't swallow their cantaloupe without a slice of bread spread with butter? Pascal Beillevaire will not throw stones at you, on the contrary. “Butter, I say yes, especially with hard cheese. Even if it has been criticized for a while, it's very good! It contains vitamins and is also a flavor conductor, which enhances cheese or a slice of dry sausage. "And if the Loire-Atlantique cheese maker is part of the salted butter team , he tolerates the sweet, only" if the cheese is sufficiently salty ".
How to compose a good platter?
Pascal Beillevaire has a golden rule: always offer an odd number of cheeses, so that "it balances well". If you take three, you can choose one with cow's milk, one with goat's milk and one with sheep's milk. It can be five (two, two and one). "We can also bring only one to the table, for example a beautiful brie from Melun to share like a cake," advises Pascal Beillevaire. It's very nice. Remember to take the products out of the fridge at least two hours before serving, "so that the flavors are awakened." And pay attention to the cut, especially for the Comté or Roquefort cheese: we try to slice the slices "starting in a triangle", so that the latter does not recover all the crust.
Should we leave the crust or not?
There are those who eat it and those who leave it on the edge of the plate… Can you eat cheese rind or not? "It depends," answers Pascal Beillevaire. Of course, we eat that of camembert, brie de Meaux or goat cheese, because the rind is part of the rather short life of these cheeses. "For the county, on the other hand, it is much less advisable ..." It is too thick and without any particular taste, judges the cheese maker. For cooked pressed pasta, it must be remembered that the crust is in fact a kind of shell, which has surrounded them for one or two years, or even more! "
What are we drinking? Red wine necessarily?
No, and do not hesitate to get out of the cliché. For Pascal Beillevaire, the best way to avoid mistakes is to bet on a “terroir-terroir” agreement. "A crottin de Chavignol with a white wine from the Loire Valley, a munster with a good bottle of dry gewurztraminer, a savarin with a glass of champagne ... You can also dare the Camembert de Normandie with a very good farm cider, provided let it go more on the apple than on the sugar. I do not recommend opening a bottle with cheese because the evening may end badly ( laughs ). "
How to choose your pie chart?
We see you, at the supermarket, open the wooden lid and dip your fingers through the plastic. Well we must stop, insists Pascal Beillevaire. The cheese maker, who preaches for his parish, rather invites you to look at the label. "A good camembert is a camembert with raw milk," he says. It's the truth of the land, but we are less than ten in France. Then, according to him, all tastes are in the camembert. "Some people like it when it's done, others like it when it's less done, and both respect each other!" Eating cheese must remain a moment of pleasure, even if personally, I prefer the rather refined Camembert. "
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