More lovely language lessons from learning cheesey lexicon.
Today's cheese gets its name from its shape and preparation, both of which would be right at home in a bakery. The whole cheese, for it can't really be called a wheel, looks just like a loaf of bread; a roughly circular squat dome with stalks of wheat in relief stretching out from the center. On top of this it is coated with toasted wheat flour, forming a unique rind and adding somewhat to the flavor of the cheese. High in protein and markedly sweeter than most Swiss and Swiss-style cheeses, it is "the perfect choice for those with sensitive palates"....
Despite how lame that sounds it's actually a good cheese, even a good Swiss-knockoff. In fact, Fol Epi is what Jarlsberg should be but isn't.
Origin: Pays de Loire, France
Milk: Cow, pasteurized
Rennet: Animal
Affinage: 3 months
Notes: Fol Epi is also brought to those of us in America courtesy of Ile de France, but somehow it's just more satisfying than yesterday's Saint Andre. The whole cheese, while still very much "produced" rather than "made", just holds up better. This is partially because it's marketed as a snacking cheese rather than a decadent triple-crème, but regardless it get's my approval.
Thoughts: Although this cheese splits the middle between semi-firm and semi-soft and is actually rather dry for either, it doesn't sacrifice anything on flavor. A simple but well executed nutty sweetness builds steadily up throughout the taste and ends in a tangy-sweet aftertaste. A heavier texture and a balanced creaminess make for a truly satisfying and full-flavored though mild snacking cheese that, yes, is "sensitive palate" friendly. The Emmentaler on which it's based is a better cheese overall, but that does not make Fol Epi unworthy of consideration for snacking and other light-hearted cheese endeavors.
Caution
"Those with sensitive palates" is industry code for "people who can't handle/appreciate the real thing". This does not make the cheeses so prescribed necessarily bad nor the person so described necessarily a cheese novice, but....
Today's cheese gets its name from its shape and preparation, both of which would be right at home in a bakery. The whole cheese, for it can't really be called a wheel, looks just like a loaf of bread; a roughly circular squat dome with stalks of wheat in relief stretching out from the center. On top of this it is coated with toasted wheat flour, forming a unique rind and adding somewhat to the flavor of the cheese. High in protein and markedly sweeter than most Swiss and Swiss-style cheeses, it is "the perfect choice for those with sensitive palates"....
Despite how lame that sounds it's actually a good cheese, even a good Swiss-knockoff. In fact, Fol Epi is what Jarlsberg should be but isn't.
Milk: Cow, pasteurized
Rennet: Animal
Affinage: 3 months
Notes: Fol Epi is also brought to those of us in America courtesy of Ile de France, but somehow it's just more satisfying than yesterday's Saint Andre. The whole cheese, while still very much "produced" rather than "made", just holds up better. This is partially because it's marketed as a snacking cheese rather than a decadent triple-crème, but regardless it get's my approval.
Thoughts: Although this cheese splits the middle between semi-firm and semi-soft and is actually rather dry for either, it doesn't sacrifice anything on flavor. A simple but well executed nutty sweetness builds steadily up throughout the taste and ends in a tangy-sweet aftertaste. A heavier texture and a balanced creaminess make for a truly satisfying and full-flavored though mild snacking cheese that, yes, is "sensitive palate" friendly. The Emmentaler on which it's based is a better cheese overall, but that does not make Fol Epi unworthy of consideration for snacking and other light-hearted cheese endeavors.
Caution
"Those with sensitive palates" is industry code for "people who can't handle/appreciate the real thing". This does not make the cheeses so prescribed necessarily bad nor the person so described necessarily a cheese novice, but....
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