A display case at the Museum of Cheese in Paris – credit, Musee du Fromage, released to the media
Fromage, Formaggio, Käse, Queso: cheese—one of the Old World’s great romance stories.
In the heart of Paris, a new museum has opened dedicated to the ages-old craft of cheesemaking in France, the second most prolific producer on the continent (behind Italy).
At the newly-opened Musee du Fromage, visitors can learn about the history of cheese making, something which may have been going on for 5,000 years. They can learn about the story of various famous French cheeses, see cheese made, talk to real cheesemakers, and yes, taste them.
The mastermind behind the museum is Pierre Brisson—who remembers Sunday afternoons at the market standing on his tippy-toes to look into the display cases of the cheesemakers and marveling at the variety.
Coming to Paris 15 years ago, he saw how developed the Parisian pride and museum scene was for the showcasing of wine, but cheese, perhaps an even more iconic French symbol, was notably absent.
“People can see cheesemaking live and also talk to the cheesemaker,” Brisson told Euronews. “We are working with many traditional farmers, so we want people [to feel like they’re] kind of traveling when they taste the cheese. We are opening a little window in the heart of Paris to the rural side of France.”
The French have invented some of the world’s most beloved cheeses and just to name the headliners, there’s Camembert, Brie, Epoisses du Bourgogne, Roquefort, Ossau Irati, Comte, La Tur, and so many others that French readers are no doubt hollering to be included here.
“[The process] depends on so many things, even the humor of the animals whose milk is being used,” Agathe de Saint-Exupéry, one of the experts at the museum, tells the Guardian. “You can make the same good cheese every day, and every day it will taste different. It just cannot be done industrially.”
Cheesemaking is a good profession in France that makes a better living than other rural activities. Even so, Brisson knows firsthand it’s a productive, sometimes grueling job that is currently experiencing a labor shortage.
Like many nations, there is a continuous movement in France from the countryside to the cities, and Brisson hopes the museum will help people connect with their countryside heritage—and understand its value and what it contributes to French life even in the cities.
“Now, we are able to know, thanks to science, a lot of things about cheese. But our ancestors, they didn’t know all these details, but they still could make amazing cheese and develop very amazing skills of cheesemaking. So there is a know-how that’s developed for centuries that we kind of inherited today. We have a responsibility to keep this alive and to continue to pass to new generations the passion.”First Ever Cheese Museum Opens in Paris: ‘It’s Gouda Brie a Delicious Visit’
