Cheese- A Matter Of Taste (1986)

d [Music] of all the capital cities of the Western World Paris is surely one of the most civilized and elegant the bridges over the sen the spacious squares and boulevards the ancient historic buildings and the smart shopping streets all make their contribution to her unique [Music] charm less well known is another aspect of Paris the narrow crowded Street Markets where parisians flock to choose from some of the best food and drink that Europe has to offer these fascinating Lively little streets are found tucked away in odd Corners all over the [Music] city the French often cling to their Traditions but when they wish they can adapt with surprising swiftness to new ideas [Music] on the outskirts of Paris is this giant supermarket inside its vast Halls is the sort of cheese counter that can be found only in France for the French produced several hundred completely different kinds of cheeses even if you don't count local variations which may be made by individual Farmers the French give as much attention to selecting cheese as they devote to choosing [Music] wine no French woman for instance would buy a cheese without discussing her purchase with a shopkeeper a Bri or C will be tested with a gentle pressure to make sure it's springy and creamy France has a multitude of small towns many of them like uker peaceful and beautiful are a delight to the visitor who wanders away from the main highways [Music] once a week maybe more often these towns will hold the market it will be well patronized for here there is a chance to buy local produce fresh from the [Music] country among all the knickknacks clothes fruit and veget vegetables offered for sale there will be several stalls selling cheese and offering a bewildering Choice each of these cheeses is quite distinctive both in taste and texture take one of the greatest rfor or rfor it's a blue cheese with a quite strong flavor and it's made in a very special way to begin with Rook for is produced not from cow's milk but from the milk of sheep most of the flocks live on the barren Limestone Hills of Southwest France their milk will be taken to one of the small cheese factories in the countryside and it is tested for Quality before being emptied into a series of giant [Music] Vats then the great secret of the manufacturer of this cheese the rock for penicilium is added to the milk it's made from a microscopic blue mushroom found only in the caves of rfor and nowhere else in the world renit which causes milk to curdle is added in a few hours the whole vat has set into solid curds mixed with liquid whey only the curds are needed for cheese making so they are broken into segments like this to assist in draining off the whe [Music] when the curds are sufficiently dry the cheese molds are [Music] filled after they have spent a few days in Cold Storage each one will be thoroughly coated in a layer of salt now they are ready to leave the for the town of rfor itself where the final processing takes place Mount kbal dominates the town of rfor it looks solid enough but it is in fact honeycombed with a vast system of caves the blue cheese of rfor has been made here for hundreds of years the Romans knew it well and wrote about it all cheeses that bear the name of hfor must by law be matured in the the caves of kbal for the temperature and the humidity are exactly right to bring the cheese to Perfection these needles allow the atmosphere of the caves to penetrate and work on the chees they are stacked on their sides and left to mature in these giant [Music] Caverns after some weeks the cheers are wrapped in a metal foil to assist the final stages of the maturing [Music] process they are examined at intervals to make sure they're developing properly [Music] finally the foil is removed and they are repacked ready for Market hooka was the favorite cheese of the Emperor shamain who reigned in the year 800 ad and now over 1100 years later it is still made here by the same methods and it's still just as good every region of France has its own character in the mountains in the east of France the scenery is indeed different the cities too this is Ani have subtle differences that distinguish them from the towns of the Mediterranean or central France in The Cheese Shop a selection of regional cheeses made from the milk of cows Grazing In the mountain slopes some of them come in very large wheel shapes these are hard cheeses the easiest of all to store one of the best known is the Swiss imal with its characteristic holes in making IM malal and other similar cheeses the giant molds are filled with curds and then they are cooked in large ovens afterwards the cheeses are put into presses and subjected to considerable pressure as soon as the mold is Stripped Away the new cheese is given a dusting of salt [Music] because of the weight of these wheels of AAL elaborate Machinery is needed to move them to storage and in the process of maturing they have to be turned over occasionally once again natural caves are sometimes used for storage the air is usually cool and damp ideal for keeping cheeses like the other hard chees otal keeps well and it's possible to maintain a large quantity [Music] during the maturing process a fermentation takes place within the Amal and this results in its typical holes the progress of this fermentation is checked regularly by the staff as these holes develop the cheese expands the drum on the rack below is fresh the one on top is fully matured each wheel of Amal is very heavy and costs a great deal so there aren't too many customers for whole cheeses in this Factory they're cut into more convenient and sailable sizes this is how a good imel should look the packaging operation is carried out with a minimum of human handling a machine weighs and prices each portion prints the correct label and puts it on the package the factory prepares convenience packs of grated and shredded cheese imal is frequently blended with other cheeses to make a whole range of processed cheeses they come in many varieties occasionally they're flavored with lur or sometimes coated with nuts or grape [Music] seeds travel west across France and you will eventually reach the o one of the most beautiful and fascinating regions of this lovely country there's a great deal of dairy farming in the O and milk from cows pastured here goes into two of the most popular French cheeses sen and contal they are semi hard cheeses sampa is another of the same type it's produced in several shapes and sold under different brands all are made in the same way after the curds of milk are poured into the molds they are not cooked but they are put under pressure it is this which gives them their particular texture they are salted by being immersed in a brine bath this particular variet doesn't develop a crust so the cheeses are dipped in wax several times to give them a protective [Music] coating after a final wash they go on their way to the packing Department in the Valley of the lir near the Exquisite chatau of Valance another cheese is produced this one is made from the goats milk goats are notoriously quirky individual animals perhaps their attitude has rubbed off on the cheese makers for the firms that make goats cheese are notorious for their dependence and individuality some of them are quite small family concerns even the larger Factories do not use much automation preferring to rely on human skills and a long tradition of craftsmanship goat cheeses come in a great variety of shapes after the usual processes of molding and salting these cheeses are dusted with powdered charcoal during the maturing period the charcoal combines with the curds to form the typical blue gray rind the goat cheeses of the lir valley have a delicious and delicate taste although much appreciated by kisur they are not very well known outside France on the other hand The Familiar rondel of Bri and C are found everywhere to satisfy the worldwide demand for these two cheeses they have to be made on a very large scale the molds for Bri are filled with curds in an atmosphere approaching 100% humidity for cheese making is best done in very damp conditions brie is made in the region of the same name which lies a little to the east of Paris [Music] after a Time the molds are stripped from the rondel of PRI they are then salted by being dipped in a brine bath a special penicilium has been added to this bath and it is this penicilium which causes the typical velvety rind to develop during the process of maturing which the French call the aage during the apage the cheeses are constantly turned to make sure they mature [Music] [Music] evenly reddish spots on the surface of the matured pre are one sign of an excellent cheese [Music] C is also produced on a large scale and molded by the thousands in giant factories [Music] but historic places like the ab of on in Normandy produce C Fier or Farmhouse C this cheese is made in the traditional way with milk fresh from local farms all the operations are done by hand using methods quite unchanged over the years after molding the cheers are salted the penicilium that gives C its typical flavor and appearance is mixed in with this salt now the cheeses will be stored like bri they are turned at intervals to make sure they develop evenly during this period the penicilium causes the velvety rind to form as the cheese is mature then they are ready for packing and marketing not far from The Abbey of un at V baj the cattle market begins in the early hours of the [Music] morning K the informal French greeting between friends some come to appraise some to haggle and [Music] buy in spite of the jokes this is a serious business Normandy is one of the richest and most important farming regions of France the count auctioned at this Market are a special breed Normandy cattle great heavy beasts with a milk yield of exceptional size and quality there are 2 and A2 million cows in Normandy 133% of all the cattle in [Music] friend so as you might expect this beautiful countryside with its old half timbered buildings produces not only the bulk of the famous cheeses but quite a few that are less well known one of them takes its name from this small Normandy Town PC it is still possible to find farms nearby where the farmer's wife turns out her own PC cheese in her Farm Dairy this cheese and many others can be sampled at one of the little restaurants tucked away in the Normandy villages [Music] in Paris they can be found in one of the specialty cheese shops whose Proprietors comb the length and breadth of France to offer the very best and the widest possible [Music] selections a shop like this does not just offer cheeses for sale it sells them only when they are fully matured and at Peak condition to do this there has to be a Cellar below where cheeses are brought to Perfection at the correct temperature and humidity the flat discs of Bri the giant imal pyramids of goat cheese how does one choose well a cheeseboard should contain some of each kind one of the soft cheeses a blue perhaps one of the semi hard cheeses some prefer one some another for the flavors of cheese vary enormously it's one of the world's most appetizing and varied Foods as for which one you prefer well it's really just a matter of taste [Music]