Now this is a website!!!
If you are interested in learning about French cheeses (including how to pronounce them), check out this website- www.cheesesoffrance.com. I happened to stumble on it recently and it impressed me so much that I could not resist sharing it with you. It was created by a marketing company called Jaffe and Partners (jaffeandpartners.com) for The Cheeses of France Marketing Council.
You may say, yes, but there are many websites about the cheeses of France. And, of course, there are. In fact, on this website they recommend several of them, including cheese-france.com and fromages.com. But, for the following reasons, I love this one:
1. First of all, there is good information about every cheese from every region of France. You look a cheese up by either name or style and then you click on “Learn More.” There is information about it’s history, how it is made and how long it is aged, what wine to pair it with, etc..
2. Secondly, it’s gorgeous and the pictures are lovely. Maybe you think you don’t care about that, but during the course of using it as a reference, you will have to admit that you enjoy hanging out there.
3. Thirdly, when you look up the cheeses, you can actually hear how the names are pronounced. Yes, a voice pronounces the name of each cheese if you choose to hear it. How cool is that?
4. Each cheese has at least one simple (but elegant) recipe attached to it, so you will know how to use it.
5. There is a “Where To Buy” feature where you enter your zip code, and all the stores in your area that sell French cheeses are listed. This includes most of the major supermarkets, which you already knew about, but there are also some surprises. If there isn’t a single place in your area, they give you on-line options.
6. In some markets, there is a blackboard on the home page where you can click to enter a sweepstakes and win a gourmet dinner for two. All you do is click on the blackboard and you will be asked to name your 3 favorite cheeses (not necessarily French). You enter your contact info and you are entered in the sweepstakes to win a gourmet dinner for two.
7. When you click on the “What’s Happening” sign, you can find out when and where there are free tastings going on in your area. (I was surprised to discover that the Big Y here in our small town is doing a tasting.)
8. Most importantly, that hanging sign (on the left side) sways in the breeze when you click on it. (I can’t actually explain why this excites me as much as it does, but I am absolutely delighted by it.) Let me know if you love this website as much as I do . . .
