The Cheese Geek’s Guide to Affinage

Did you know that France produces more than 350 types of cheese ? Each variety is the unique result of a specific production method and aging process, requiring both technical skill and intuition. We talk about cheese a lot on Chocolate & Zucchini: we’ve covered how to shop for cheese and the notion of cheese terroir , and today I am happy to present a guest post by Jonathan Deitch, a.k.a. Monsieur Fromage , a fellow bilingual blogger and passionate explorer of all things cheese.

Can goat meat hoof its way to the culinary forefront?

Goat is enviably healthy, rich in iron and protein, tender in a braise, and popular in the developing world. Why is it so hard to get in North America? Pop down to your local Loblaws, Sobeys or Metro and it will be easy to find some creamy fresh goat’s cheese from B.C.’s Salt Spring Island Cheese Company, or something better-aged from Ontario’s Monforte, or a brick of that lovely, black, wax-wrapped chA vre noir from La Fromagerie Hamel in Quebec.