mmm… Monday! French cheese tasting

Last week we attended the most wonderful foodie experience: a French cheese tasting. It took place in our favourite restaurants in Bremen, Presse. Even though we eat there at least once a week, we hadn’t still attended one of their special nights. Two months ago, when we saw they have programmed a French cheese tasting, we couldn’t say no and booked our seats. If you love cheese, you are going to love this post!
We didn’t really know what was ahead of us. We have thought about a nice cheese platter with some indications and pairings…. but the night was going to be way better than expected. Charming candle lights, long beautiful tables, a couple of friendly hosts and a seven (seven!) course menu were going to make our evening unforgettable. Each dish was dedicated to an specific type of cheese and before it was served, the host would tell us a little bit about the sort of cheese we were about to eat.

We started with a potato waffle with melted Vacherin Mont d’Or. We were told that this cheese is perfect for breakfast, because it’s really smooth. Fun fact: it’s a seasonal cheese! You can only find it from September to March. Look at that beauty…

The second dish was delightful. Maybe the Pierre Robert cheese was not the most exciting one, but the mixture of sweet and savoury on the plate really impressed me. They served this humble cheese with a roasted pear toast, cucumber tagliatelle and a slightly spicy tomato sauce. I have to recreate this recipe at home as soon as posible!

The Tomme de Montagne was a huge surprise. It looked hard and strong, very manly… but it turned out to be tender yet really savoury. It was served with pumpkin. Not my favourite pairing, though. I just don’t like pumpkin that much, I find it really buttery. But the cheese was delicious. Apparently it comes from the border between France and Italy and, well, if something is related to Italy you know I’m going to love it!

But when this appeared in front of my eyes… well, I fell in love. The Timanoix has now become my favourite cheese. We were told to eat it all, even the rind. It had a subtle but vivid walnut flavour that was exactly what the pasta needed. And that pasta! Oh my! It was seasoned with the most amazing truffle sauce: one of the highlights of the evening!

The main course arrived. And with it the Foume d’Ambert. While I love cheese, I can’t say blue cheeses are among my favourite because once you’ve eaten them it’s hard to get them out of your mouth. Well, this one was really strong. It was served with lamb and a creamy pea puree. At this point my stomach was about to explode and the flavours were certainly powerful. So I tried a little bit and save room for dessert. On the contrary, P. loved this cheese. I think it was her favourite!

To finish this scrumptious menu, we had a delightful crispy toast with Coeur Gourmand, the only goat cheese we tried. It had a mousse-like texture and a sweet fig compote heart that melted in your mouth beautifully.

And last, but not least: proper pudding. Obviously we had cheesecake. Sweet, smooth and fluffy, it found the best companion in a zingy vanilla quince ice cream. It was simply delicious.

We ended the night with coffe, a nice chat with the owner and two happy bellies. We walked home enjoying the last warm night of the season and promised ourselves we would eat more cheese and come back for their next tasting!

Filed under: mmm... Monday!