France is famous for its cheese, and there is a lot of cheese produced in France. Who amongst you likes cheese? I know I do! There are so many things that have cheese in our daily menu, from pizzas to sandwiches, and cheeseburgers to quesadillas. When we think of cheese, we usually think of something yellowish that has a soft taste and stretches when melted, but there are many different colors and types of cheeses. In France, the diversity and origins of cheese are a lot richer and deeper than I ever expected.
For the first time, I tried a cheese called Camembert. It came in a wooden container with the words Le Rustique on it. The cheese was soft, and it had a white waxy layer covering it. That waxy outer layer is called the rind, and it's edible too! The center is light yellow, very moist and almost seems to be melting at room temperature. It tasted great with freshly baked bread from the French bakery.
The first thing that I remember after opening it is the smell. It smells strange. It doesn’t smell like feet, which was nice, but it does smell kind of moldy, like when you go into an old wet room. Camembert is definitely one of the stinky cheeses. The second thing I remember is how soft it was. It is a very soft cheese, nothing like cheddar or American cheese.
