Luminaries of aging cheese come to Berkeley
April 10, 2002 - The San Jose Mercury News
If the Grévin wax museum in Paris had a “cheese luminaries’’ section, Jean and Pascale d’Alos would be there, side by side. Simply put, theirs is some of the best French cheese to be found in the United States.
Thirty-one years ago, the couple quit their day jobs (he worked for Airbus, she with autistic children) and started making and aging cheese together. After more than a decade of creating their own fermier (farm-made) cheeses, they opened Fromagerie Jean d’Alos in Bordeaux in 1982. Today, they’ve left cheese making largely to the sustainable farms across France and have become experts in affinage, or cheese aging.
As Pascale d’Alos says, “We gave it all up for cheese.’‘
Next week, she will make her annual trip to Berkeley’s Chez Panisse, where she will teach two classes on cheese, work with the restaurant’s chefs to create menus and share special cheeses brought just for the trip.
“People in the United States are like sponges right now,’’ says Peggy Smith, co-founder and owner of Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station. A former Chez Panisse cafe chef, Smith is now the U.S. contact and distributor for Fromagerie Jean d’Alos through her San Francisco store, Artisan Cheese.
“Having Pascale come over and enlighten us is a great opportunity. Buying from Fromagerie Jean d’Alos is like buying from a farm—they select their cheese in the same way.’‘
Like wine, a properly aged and cared-for cheese takes on marvelous new characteristics. A young Camembert, for example, starts with a near-chalky texture, which becomes increasingly gooey as the bacteria work their magic from the outside in. Mimolette (think Gouda) doesn’t even appear on market shelves until it has aged for six months. At that point, it has an elastic texture, orange color and mild flavor. But with further aging, a 2-year-old Mimolette becomes nearly Parmesan-solid and develops an intense, sublimely sweet flavor.
In France, the making and aging of cheese are centuries-old arts. Making a name-controlled, or AOC, cheese is governed by detailed guidelines that outline rules such as the type of milk that should be used, the region it should be from, temperature and time. Aging is equally complex, but the d’Aloses’ limestone caves are perfect for affinage, providing a mix of high humidity and a cool, almost unchanging temperature.
Compared France, the United States is at the beginning of the learning curve. But Pascale d’Alos is encouraged by the acceptance cheese is gaining in this country.
“Americans are in the process of learning to adapt their milk to the land—the evolution takes a long time, but they’re getting there,’’ she said. “The evolution of cheese production is slow, but people are learning how to deal with milk—a live product.’‘
She will share her knowledge in two classes at Chez Panisse on April 21—one about comté, the other on women and cheese.
“The d’Aloses’ vast knowledge of cheese and their dedication to the preservation of artisan cheeses has not only been an important education, but also a great inspiration to me,’’ said Alice Waters, executive chef-owner of Chez Panisse.
Comté—which has one of the richest and longest histories among French cheeses—provides a solid foundation in cheese creation. “It’s a ‘base’ cheese, and the way it’s made has changed little for centuries,’’ Smith says.
Produced in the Jura mountains, comté has a flavor that changes seasonally with the cows’ diet—milk taken in the summer imparts an herbal flavor and yellow color, but winter-milk comté has a more grassy flavor and ivory color. Pascale d’Alos will use comté to discuss such seasonal variations, milk and production areas.
The course on women in cheese will focus on women’s roles in the history of cheese. Traditionally, men grew grains and managed the herds while women created the cheese—a tradition still practiced by many of the farmers who make cheese for Fromagerie Jean d’Alos.
And the menu? After-dinner cheese courses will be de rigueur, along with main courses drawn around cheese. Smith, d’Alos and Chez Panisse chef Kelsie Kerr will create a menu to best take advantage of the season. Be on the lookout as Pascale d’Alos may bring a sheep’s milk comté, or one of Smith’s favorites, a goat’s milk herbiette made in the Loire Valley and finished in the d’Alos caves.
Joe Ray is a freelance writer based in Paris. Contact him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
