Say Fromage!

I have yet to dine at Taillevent, but that hasn't stopped me from devouring Andrew Todhunter's book, A Meal Observed. Last night, I finished the chapter about Le Fromage, which made me hungry for, you guessed it, cheese. Todhunter's wife, Erin, keeps a cheese journal. Her finds? The Saint-Nectaire and the Roquefort de la Maison Coulet at Barthélémy. The Todhunters favorite fromagerie back in 2005? Christian Cantin's on the rue du Lourmel, where Cantin's Reblochon, Pont-l'Évêque, Livarot, Beaufort, and Fourme d'Ambert were remarkable. Equally fine is his daughter Marie-Anne's shop, Cantin. Since there are over 500 French cheeses, you could spend more than a year tasting a different one every day.

According to Todhunter, cheeses in France are typically served first to the host, who cuts the initial wedge from any whole cheeses to spare his guests from assaulting an intact Camembert. And speaking of Camembert, French Symbolist poet, Léon-Paul Fargue, vividly described the smell of this cheese as les pied de Dieu (the feet of God)! Now, isn't that appetizing?

So after all these cheesy remarks, forgive me if I thought Breyer's Wheel of Delights Sweepstakes might have something to do with this distinctive dairy product. You won't be cheesed off to hear the grand prize is a 4 night trip for two to Los Angeles for a meet and greet with a celebrity trainer. (If you eat as much cheese as I do, you're going to need one!) Besides round-trip air fare to L.A. and hotel accommodations, the winner receives a $10,000 check. That's enough to visit Paris and sample plenty of Saint-Nectare. Be a big cheese and enter.

Voilà - the link to Breyers Wheel of Delights Sweepstakes:

http://www.breyers.com/promotions/WheelOfDelights/Instant-Win.aspx