Hey guys, salut, this is Alex. Listen, I believe a cheese board in the center of a table, genuinely the most satisfying and cheerful experience you could ever share with your friends and family on a special occasion. So we are gonna make one, an epic one, and of course I'm gonna use French cheeses. Don't worry, you know this challenge is not only about France, so I'm gonna share some good and available world alternatives. And finally, we will perform (clears throat) a live tasting, and smelling so that you know in advance what to expect. So I say we go, 'cuz I know just the right place to get those cheeses. We are currently in the eleventh district of Paris, and we are going to La Fromagerie Goncourt where Clement, my friend Salut! will open up especially for us. Chaorce is a soft, ripened cheese made from cow's milk and coming from the northeast of France, the Champagne-Ardenne region. I chose this one 'cuz it's a bit off the beaten tracks, but in many aspects, it's very similar to Brie cheese. This one is super creamy. You can feel the crumbly part in the center but on the outside, it's mainly cream. Mmm You know, very creamy and smooth and gentle and velvety and luxurious, but underneath that you've got the naughty part, like this comes from raw milk, like, that is definitely some animal taste behind this. Getting world alternative on this one is fairly easy 'cuz Brie is produced all over the world. King Island in Australia, or Cornish Brie in the UK, or even, you know, any Brie in the US. Mothais goat cheese is a soft, ripened cheese made from goat milk and coming from the region called Poitou in the west of France. It's traditionally wrapped in a chestnut leaf, oh how beautiful is that! I mean, you can get it without it. Wow! Smells like being in the farm. Smells stronger than cow cheese we just tasted. Super smooth. So I'm taking another bite, you know, for science. Science my ass Any creamy goat cheese could be a nice alternative to this Mothais sur Feuille cheese However, you can go for Italian Robiola di Capra, Bonne Bouche cheese in Vermont in the US, or even a cheese called Humboldt in California. And yes, you just heard a French man suggesting a US cheese. This is what you get on this channel! This! So, Comté is a pressed and cooked cheese made from cow's milk and produced in the east of France in the mountains of the Jura. Toasty, caramel something. Texture is super soft. Not like, overwhelming salty, no, just very salty. It's also very sweet. And feel your teeth biting into it in slow motion like... Caramelized onions, caramelized something. So although you can find this almost everywhere, here are a few international alternatives to Comté cheese: Swiss Gruyere, British very young cheddar, Tarentaise cheese from Vermont, or Pleasant Ridge from Wisconsin. Is it available where you live? Have you ever found some Comté in your supermarket? Let everybody know in the comments. And if you did, share the location! And if you did not, maybe you can share your favorite alternative! Ossau-Iraty is a cheese made from sheep's milk. It comes from the south of France, the southwest of France in the Pyrenees Mountains. So sheep cheese like this one has a very distinct smell. The texture is more crumbly than smooth and there is some slight bitterness into this one. That's why it would be perfect to pair it with a bit of blackcurrant jam. This is a dry wine. Clean, very pure, which doesn't interact with the cheese. Right, a few international alternatives to Ossau-Iraty cheese: I would say first, Spanish Manchego cheese, also you can get a young Italian Pecorino cheese, also a cheese from Wisconsin in the US called GranQueso. Roquefort cheese. Unpressed and uncooked cheese made from a sheep's milk. It comes from the south of France, the region called Aveyron. In the center, this one has an insert of quince jam to make it sweeter. It belongs to the blue cheese family, so, as such, it is run throughout with blue-ish penicillium veins and carries a distinct smell. Uh, stinky situation? 5, maybe 6, out of 5. I don't know if I'm excited or terrified. It smells like someone locked in a cave. He wants to escape but it's too late. It's a very, very mighty experience. It's fattier, I mean that's the feeling you have when you bite into it You've got this creamy, almost buttery texture. Very, very, very long aftertaste. I can still feel those nutty, mushroomy, cave flavors. And now a few international alternatives to Roquefort cheese: So, Italian Gorgonzola, British Stilton, the Danish blue cheese, or even the American Maytag. Epoisses cheese. Washed rind cheese made from cow's milk and coming from Burgundy. So basically it's called "washed rind" 'cuz they wash the rind, I mean that makes sense, several times during it's making process with Brandy liquor. I intentionally chose this particular cheese for it's super strong and super sharp smell. However, it doesn't smell anything like feet. This one is only cream. Mmm, luxurious, you've got waves and waves of cheese floating on, you know, a magic carpet. Wow, oh, this wine is good man! Surprising 'cuz with the smell you expect something really harsh. When you have the experience, the taste experience, in fact, it's only smooth and mellow. Alternatives? Yes, so you've got this Irish Ardrahan cheese, you also got the German Limburger, the British Stinking Bishop, and the Italian Taleggio. So I'm not gonna lie, this whole car space is now infused with with very very French, uh... So I guess it is now time to assemble the perfect platter of cheese and for that, we are gonna need some sides. They are brilliant, they will make our platter beautiful. But they will also help, you know, emphasizing or balancing this or that cheese. I use 5 types of sides: bread and crackers, nuts and seeds, pickles, jams and relishes, and fresh or dried fruit. You can use a stone, you can use a plate, but I'm going for a wooden board, you know, with attitude. Knowing of course that I will have to wash it thoroughly to get rid of that smell afterward. So guys, that's it, I can only encourage you to go and make a beautiful cheese platter for the holiday or your friends and family. It does really bring people together! Or it just, you know, tear them apart for good. Anyway, if you like it, give it a thumbs up, like it, and share that over your social media, you know the deal, on Facebook, Twitter, whatever, just spread it like butter, bruv! Last thing, but click subscribe 'cuz I make new videos every week and it's mostly about sharing my adventures and infectious passion for food! Like for example that food blog, or flog as I call them, I made recently in the US, or maybe the tartine series if you wanna stay French but you know, on a budget and more simple. In the meantime, take care guys, bye bye, salut!
