The cheese board as you know it could be about to change, forever! Because apparently french cheeses are threatened with extinction.
But before you start stockpiling brie and Camembert (which would be a terrible idea because your fridge would STINK), it’s not the variety stocked in Sainsbury’s that’s under threat. It’s the more niche cheeses, made with raw, unpasteurised milk.
Last week, at the COP21 global climate conference in Paris, Prince Charles decided he wanted to talk about cheese, declaring his love for the types of fromage mentioned above, and claiming they were threatened by the ‘bacteriological correctness’ of European and national food safety regulation. Apparently the raw milk made in the cheese production is a problem for food regulators, because it could contain dangerous E.Coli bacteria, but big dairy companies mass-producing cheese is also threatening artisanal producers.
‘In a microbe-free, progressive and genetically engineered future, what hope is there for the old-fashioned Fourme d’Ambert, the malformed Gruyere de Comte or the odorous Pont L’Eveque?’ he lamented.
Apparently 50 types of French cheese have vanished in the past 40 years. And the French cheese elite are as worried as Charles, with Véronique Richez-Lerouge, head of the Association Fromages de Terroirs backing up the Prince’s claims.
‘At least 30 types of French cheese have been lost in the past decade and many more are in danger, because only a few small producers are still making them,’ she syas. ‘Thanks to the prince for his powerful wake-up call. It is shameful that French leaders do not raise their voices.’
Pastugal, Tallance and Vacherin d’Abondance are just some of the cheeses that have died out (never heard of them, but am sure they were bloody delicious) - but what does it actually mean for your cheese board? Apparently cheeses like camembert made with non-raw milk are classed as ‘safer’, but the taste is bland and chalky, rather than oozy and pungent. Sounds like a lot less fun spread on an oatcake.
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Picture: Kirstin McKee
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.