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    Home » Ingredients » Cheese

    A Wide Selection of French Cheeses

    Published: Dec 15, 2021 · Modified: Feb 8, 2025. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

    Recipe Jump to Video
    French cheeses are delicious, but they are so many it is hard to make up your mind when creating a selection for a dinner party. Here I serve them with jam #yourguardianchef #cheese #french #jam

    French cheeses are the perfect end of a luscious meal. Although they are so many it is hard to make up your mind. Here is a varied and balanced selection to offer your guests a sample of the best.

    French cheese platter
    Jump to:
    • Where to buy French cheeses
    • Variety of cheeses
    • Soft cow milk cheeses: lait de vache
    • Hard/Semihard cow milk cheeses: lait de vache
    • Ewe Sheep Milk cheese: lait de Brebis  
    • Goat cheese: chevre
    • What to serve with the cheeses
    • 📋 A Wide Selection of French Cheeses

    Where to buy French cheeses

    I would definitely recommend buying French Cheese at a specialized fromagery.

    Cheese wrapped in plastic at a supermarket is tasteless compared to the fresh ones you buy from the counter.

    Food blogger Patty, pattysaveurs.com, and I went to a family-owned cheese shop in Vence AU POIVRE D' ÂNE to select a variety of cheeses.

    The shop owner is very knowledgeable and she helps us with the selection: from Chevre to soft, molding, and matured cheese.

    Vence is a medieval village that has maintained its authenticity and in the narrow streets of the old center.

    You can still find locals buying their groceries from the small family-owned shops.

    Generations of expertise at your service.

    Cheese counter

    Variety of cheeses

    To have a nice balanced French cheese plate to serve to your guests, you need to have at least a type of cheese for each category.

    The main type of cheese can be divided as follow:

    • Soft cow milk cheeses: lait de vache
    • Hard/Semihard cow milk cheeses: lait de vache
    • Ewe Sheep Milk cheese: lait de Brebis 
    • Goat cheese: chevre

    Soft cow milk cheeses: lait de vache

    Saint-Nectaire

    A creamy cheese made with cow milk, from the Auvergne region.

    The cows are fed in rich volcanic pasture land, and their milk is full of flavor.

    The flavor can be milder or stronger depending on its time of maturity.

    Saint Nectaire

    Bleu de Bresse

    Also, a cheese made with cow milk has a similar texture to the brie and has some blue mold in the middle.

    Not too salty not too strong

    Bleu-de-Bresse

    Brie

    Probably the most famous French cheese. Soft and creamy, it is so different when you buy it fresh from a fromagerie.

    I don't know about you, but I love the crust.

    Brie

    Brie with truffle

    It is a Brie cheese with a layer of truffle in the middle.

    Highly recommended if you like truffles.

    Brie with truffle

    Hard/Semihard cow milk cheeses: lait de vache

    Comté

    My favorite, it is semi-hard cheese.

    It has a different level of maturity from 8 to 36 months.

    It has a sweet buttery flavor and has a firm and mellow paste.

    Comte

    Tomme de Savoie

    Tomme is a cheese made from the milk left from the butter.

    It is usually lower in fat compared to other cheese.

    There are different variations, de Savoie has a stronger flavor.

    Tomme de Savoie

    Mimolette

    Before we go, the lady offered us a piece of Mimolette to try.

    Very hard cheese is full of flavor originally from Lille.

    Mimolette

    Ewe Sheep Milk cheese: lait de Brebis  

    Roquefort Papillon Noir

    Many are familiar with the Roquefort Societe, which is an industrial cheese available in most shops.

    Roquefort Papillon Noir, instead, is for the experts and cheese lovers.

    It has a creamy texture and powerful taste.

    Roquefort Papillon Noir

    Goat cheese: chevre

    A French cheese platter is not complete without a chevre, you can find different shapes and forms.

    Here are some suggestions.

    bouyguette

    Bouyguette

    It is a fresh cheese, that is starting to mature, aged only 2 to 3 weeks.

    It is dense and creamy, not strong or dry.

    Bouyguette cheese

    Chevrette du Poitou

    This is also goat cheese and it is more mature.

    You can see that is much more creamy with a stronger taste than the bouyguette.

    Chevrette du Poitou

    Mimolette

    Mimolette cheese

    Chevrette du Poitou

    Chevrette du Poitou chees

    What to serve with the cheeses

    If you are serving the cheeses at the end of the meal, bread is the only other food to serve with the cheese.

    Although if you are serving it as a more complete platter, you can add some fruit, nuts, or some other special treats.

    Bread

    Of course, you need to have some rustic French baguette called "tradition", with a crunchy crust and soft inside.

    You can also serve some fresh Sweet Corn Bread and Spelt Bread.

    A collection of cheese jams

    I like to serve with cheese some of my homemade savory jams like onion relish, balsamic fig glaze or red pepper jam.

    You can also find on the market specialized collections of honey, jams, and sauces for savory dishes.

    Each jam goes well with matured or creamy cheeses.

    Cherry tomatoes and tapenade

    Also on the table are some cherry tomatoes and homemade Tapenade, a local traditional olive paste, and you can find the recipe here on the blog:

    Black Olives Tapenade

    cherries tomatoes and tapenade

    Radishes with Salt

    Something I have learned from my son Francesco's primary school cantine in Saint Paul de Vence.

    Contrary to the usual school cantine, the cantine at La fontette had a fantastic healthy French menu.

    Francesco told me that he had radishes with salt and all the children loved it.

    I have done this ever since, and if you want to make it fancy for a dinner party, you can serve it with 4 different salts as I have done here, and this is my Amazon affiliate link:

    Radishes with salt

    And of course a nice bottle of wine.

    We opted for Rose but you can ask the shop owner to recommend a good red wine based on the cheeses you buy.

    A Wide Selection of French Cheeses

    If you are making the French cheese platter, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.

    A Wide Selection of French Cheeses

    📋 A Wide Selection of French Cheeses

    5 from 4 votes
    Laura Tobin
    Servings 12 people
    Prep Time 30 minutes mins
    Total Time 30 minutes mins
    Print Recipe Save Saved! Pin Recipe
    French cheeses are delicious, but they are so many it is hard to make up your mind when creating a selection for a dinner party. Here I serve them with jam
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Ingredients
     

    Cheeses

    • 1 slice Saint-Nectaire
    • 1 slice Bleu de Bresse
    • 1 slice Brie
    • 1 slice Brie with truffle
    • 1 slice Comté
    • 1 slice Tomme de Savoie
    • 1 slice Mimolette
    • 1 slice Roquefort Papillon Noir
    • 1 slice Bouyguette
    • 1 slice Chevrette du Poitou

    Bread

    • 1 loaf Sweet Corn Bread
    • 1 loaf Spelt Bread
    • 3 loaf baguette

    Jams for Cheese

    • 1 small jar HONEY WITH TRUFFLE
    • 1 small jar BILBERRY JAM
    • 1 small jar MUSTARD PEPPER
    • 1 small jar GREEN TOMATO AND FIGUES JAM
    • 1 small jar GRAPES "MOSTARDA"
    • 1 small jar TROPEA'S ONION JAM

    Vegetables

    • 4 grapes cherry tomatoes
    • 1 bunch radishes
    • 1 cup homemade tapenade

    Salts

    • 1 tablespoon Smoked salt
    • 1 tablespoon Himalaya salt
    • 1 tablespoon Hawaiian salt
    • 1 tablespoon Persia salt
    • Gourmet Salt From The Dead Sea

    Instructions
     

    • Arrange all products on the table
      Mimolette
    • Cheeses on wood boards
    • Bread in baskets
    • Vegetables on plates
    • You can watch the arrangement we made in the video here below

    Video

    Notes

     
     

    Nutrition

    Calories: 216kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 8gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 1047mgPotassium: 85mgFiber: 1gVitamin A: 115IUVitamin C: 0.6mgCalcium: 96mgIron: 1.9mg
    Tried this recipe?Please consider Leaving a Review!
    important notes on ingredients

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Aleka Shunk

      June 10, 2018 at 6:35 pm

      5 stars
      Oh my goodness how delicious! I HAVE to try at least 3 of these cheeses (if I can find them over here in the states)! And the jams are such a great idea!

      Reply
      • Laura

        June 11, 2018 at 8:38 am

        Thanks, I would highly recommend trying the Comte. I hope you will find it there

        Reply
    2. Chichi

      June 10, 2018 at 10:57 pm

      5 stars
      This post is quite informative. I enjoyed reading about all these cheese. Thanks

      Reply
      • Laura

        June 11, 2018 at 8:37 am

        your are welcome, I am glad you find it useful

        Reply
    3. Catherine Brown

      June 11, 2018 at 6:02 pm

      5 stars
      Oh, WOW! I do love nice cheeses... and this is quite the spread. Everything looks fantastic... love those salt dishes too! Sometimes I'll add small batches of pesto to a cheese board like this too... garlic scape pesto is a nice one!

      Reply
      • Laura

        June 12, 2018 at 6:46 am

        Thank you, yes a garlic pesto is a great idea

        Reply
    4. Sean bee

      December 20, 2021 at 8:07 am

      5 stars
      Thank you so much for that great list, you have inspired me to go cheese shopping. It is so difficult with the French cheeses, as a) there are so many of them, and b) the supermarket versions are pretty ghastly. Fortunately we have a great cheese shop nearby in La Turbie, so i will head over there and stock up for christmas.

      Oh! and Merry Christmas!!!!

      Reply
      • Laura

        December 20, 2021 at 8:11 am

        Thank you for your comment. It is true, the supermarket cheeses are tasteless. I am sure your shop in La Turbie will make your Christmas cheese platter worth it. Merry Christmas to you!

        Reply
    5 from 4 votes

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