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Traditional French Cheese Recipes
igourmet.com lists thousands of recipe examples online, many of which include cheeses from France as ingredients. Some examples are French Raclette, French Fondue, and numerous recipes for Quiche and Hors d'Oeuvres. To browse our Recipe Forum, click HERE.

French Cheese Information
igourmet.com sells over 80 different cheeses from France. Each is accompanied by a long story about its history and manufacture. To view a complete listing of all French Cheese types available at the igourmet online store, please click HERE.

A Brief History of Cheese
According to Greek Mythology, the gods first revealed the art of cheese making to Aristaeus, son of Apollo and Cyrene. Apollo was the son of Zeus and Latona and the most handsome and beloved of all the Olympian gods. Cyrene was a very beautiful Greek nymph from Thessaly. Their son Aristaeus was a shepherd who, in addition to developing cheese making skills, learned how to keep bees in hives and how to grow olives. That Greek legend attributed the invention of cheese to the son of such a powerful god indicates the fiery enthusiasm ancient man had for this most glorious, divine food. That tradition continues with French cheese today.

What perhaps really happened is that one day a shepherd observed that milk curdled when placed in contact with certain herbs or the juice of certain fruits. This curdled milk tasted even more appetizing than regular milk and lasted longer. The shepherd honed his cheese making skills, and cheese became the world's first man-made food. All cheese, including French cheese, is simply the concentrate of milk, it made sense to ancient man that the quality of the milk determined the quality of the cheese. Thus man began to relocate his animals to the most fertile meadows full of wild herbs and aromatic flowers and grasses. The early days of cheese making were not limited to cows, goats and sheep however, as the great philosopher Aristotle wrote of cheese made from mares and donkeys as well.

In all ancient societies, milk was always of primary importance, playing a religious and economic role. Its use is well documented in ancient works of poetry and literature. The earliest mention of cheese making is detailed in a collection of sacred hymns of the peoples of Tibet dating back the the 12th century BC. Later, cheese was mentioned in the Bible in the First Book of Samuel when Jesse, the old Bethlehem shepherd, calls his fourth son David and says "Here is a bushel of flour, and ten loaves; take them with all speed to thy brethren in the camp; ay, and ten cheeses to be a gift for their commander..." The first recorded history of French cheese predates biblical times.

While cheese predated their society, it was the Greeks who pioneered the advance of cheese making techniques from rudimentary to more modern methods. However, it was the Romans who were responsible for teaching the rest of the world how to make cheese. Numerous Latin writers such as Varro, Columella, Pliny the Elder, and Palladius described the art of cheese making in their works. Details such as nutrition, aging, temperatures and salting are covered in Roman texts. Thanks to the Romans, the Greeks and the ancients before them, cheese today is one of the most interesting, diverse, wholesome and delicious foods known to man. And certainly French cheese is a big part of today's cheese culture.