12 Of The Best French Cheeses

Brie

A pale, soft, and creamy cheese made from cow’s milk. It usually has a white rind; some more mature varieties – Brie Noir – have crumbly and much darker rinds.

The cheese originated in Brie, an area that now forms part of the Ile de France, Champagne, and Grand-Est regions. 

Specific types from the communes in the same area are Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun.

A slightly overripe brie would begin to smell like ammonia due to microbacterial activity.

Camembert

This is a mild, soft, and creamy cheese made from cow’s milk and in the familiar wheel shape, typically with a white rind.

It’s quite similar to Brie but tends to be lower in fat.

It’s named after Camembert in Normandy.

Many Camembert-style cheeses are made throughout France and around the world, but ‘Camembert de Normandie’ has an Appellation d’Origine Protégée and must be made from unpasteurised cow’s milk.

D’Affinois

A little like Brie in appearance, Fromager d’Affinois is a soft cheese made from pasteurised cow’s milk. It is made using an ultrafiltration method, which removes the water and concentrates the milk’s nutrients and proteins. Extra cream is added to make it soft and buttery, with about 60% fat. 

The maker, Jean Claude Guilloteau, also offers blue varieties and cheeses flavoured with truffle or chiles. The name D’Affinois was created from a combination of ‘Dauphinois’ (the local people) and ‘affinage’ (the process of maturing cheese).

Neufchâtel

Neufchâtel is an unripened cheese, made with cow’s milk. It is soft and spreadable, with a slightly grainy texture and, if ripened, has a soft white, papery rind.

It is named for Neufchâtel, in Normandy, where it has been made since the 6th century.

Neufchâtel looks like cream cheese but is slightly saltier and has a lower fat content, as there is no added cream.

Pont l’Évêque

This is a soft, pale yellow cheese, made from cow’s milk and formed into squares, with a light orange rind.

It is the oldest cheese still produced in Normandy – originally made by monks in the Calvados area in the 12th century.

It has a creamy texture and a fairly strong aroma that becomes more pronounced as it ages.

It is one of the most popular cheeses in France.

Roquefort

This is a crumbly, salty white cheese made from unpasteurised sheep’s milk, with blue veins produced by penicillin mould. It has a sharp, tangy flavour and a creamy texture.

Only cheeses produced in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon and aged in the town’s underground caves can be called ‘Roquefort’.

The monopoly for ripening the cheeses was granted to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon by Charles Vl in 1411. In 1925, when France sought to regulate production and naming, Roquefort was the first cheese awarded the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée.

Roquefort is often called ‘the Cheese of Kings’.

Bleu d’Auvergne

This is an exquisite, blue-veined cheese, made from raw or pasteurised cow’s milk. It comes from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-central France.

It is a little like Roquefort but with a softer and creamier texture. It has a buttery taste and, when aged, becomes tangy and spicy, with a strong aroma. 

Saint Agur

Probably our ‘best of the best French cheeses’ (at the moment) is an excellent blue cheese made with pasteurised cow’s milk. It comes from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alps region. Because of the added cream, it has 60% fat and is particularly rich.

It is similar to Roquefort but a little less salty, with characteristic veins of blue-green mould and a mild, tangy taste. As it ages, its flavour and aroma intensify. It is a good melting cheese and can be spread easily.

Saint Agur is sold as octagonal blocks wrapped in foil, as it has no rind. It is also available in smaller wedge packs and as Saint Agur Crème – a spreadable or ‘dippable’ version that comes in an octagonal tub.

Cantal

This is one of the oldest cheeses. The Roman historian Pliny wrote about its popularity in Rome 2,000 years ago.

Cantal is a firm, yellowish, uncooked cheese made from cow’s milk. Depending on how long it has been aged, it can be sweet and buttery (2 months) or harder, with a grainy texture and a strong nutty flavour (8 months). 

The cheese comes from the Auvergne region in central France and is named for the Cantal area on the Massif Central.

Specific types are Cantal Fermier, made from raw milk, and Cantal Laitier, made from pasteurised milk.

Chabichou

This is a firm, mild, and creamy cheese made from goat’s milk.

Depending on how long it has aged, it becomes drier and the flavour and aroma become more pronounced.

It is traditionally in the form of ‘une bonde’—a slightly asymmetrical cylinder, like a cork.

Chabichou is one of the oldest known French cheeses; its name goes back to the 8^th century, but it was made and eaten in the Poitou-Charente region much earlier.

It has an Appellation d’Origine Protégée and is often called Chabichou du Poitou.

Morbier

A pale yellow, mild and creamy semi-soft cheese made from raw cow’s milk, with a yellowish rind and a characteristic black streak of ash (edible vegetable ash) separating the two halves.

It’s named for the village of Morbier in Franche-Comté, where it was first made in the late 1800s.

It has a strong taste (and smell) and melts well, similar to Raclette.