February marks the beginning of the end of winter, as days get longer and spring begins to arrive – particularly in the south.
Dishes may begin to change as new produce becomes more readily available, however one constant on French tables will be an abundance of cheese.
Similar to fruits and vegetables, cheeses have their own ‘seasons’ in which they taste better, either being produced at this time or matured for the best amount of time before being sold.
Online cheesemonger la boite du fromager offers monthly cheese recommendations that pair well with the changing seasons.
Our monthly series covers their choice picks to place on your cheeseboards each month.
Below, we look at the best cheeses for February.
Cow’s milk cheese remains popular
In February, cow’s milk cheeses continue to dominate, either as they have remained in maturation for a lengthy period and retain the flavours of the warmer months, or provide complex and hearty flavours that combat the remaining wintry conditions.
Vacherin
Similar to the gooey and creamy Mont d’Or (a featured cheese in January), Vacherin can be one of several cow’s milk cheeses from the Alpine regions of France and Switzerland.
Ad
The most common is the Swiss Vacherin fribourgeois.
This cheese, which received AOP status in 2005, has a number of versions, some of which are matured for over half a year before hitting shop shelves.
It is made from unpasteurised (but sometimes thermised) milk, and can come in wheels up to 10kg heavy.
This allows the sweet summer flavours of the pastures cows graze on in summer to be retained.
The cheese has a slight nutty flavour and is often used to make fondue.
Another famous variant of the cheese is vacherin des Bauges, a medieval washed-rind cheese from near Evian.
ventdusud/Shutterstock
Livarot
Coming from Normandy, Livarot holds its own against nearby products such as Camembert and Epoisses with its distinctive look.
Made in small cylinders of up to 500g, the cheese has an orange appearance due to the washed-rind method employed to make it.
However, it is more known for the three to five rings present around the cheese. Traditionally this came from the cheese being wrapped in reedmace, but now it is sometimes wrapped in paper (but giving the same appearance).
For this look, it is sometimes nicknamed ‘Colonel’ as the stripes resemble those on an officer’s uniform.
Livarot cheese can either be pasteurised or raw (only around 10% of the cheese is still made using raw milk with industrial versions usually pasteurised), with the cheese being creamy and pungent.
Harder to find than some other cheeses, less than 750 tons were made in 2021.
It has benefitted from an AOC status since 1975.
JPC-PROD/Shutterstock
Brie de Melun
Not to be confused with its smaller (and more famous) cousin Brie de Meaux, this cheese has a stronger and more salty flavour.
It is made with unpasteurised cheese, and as its name suggests comes from Melun, a commune to the east of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne department (although the area where ‘official’ Brie de Melun can be made extends into three departments).
The cheese is matured for a relatively short time, 10 weeks, although this means the milk has still been produced by cows grazing on rich, healthy pasturage in the area.
It has both AOP and AOC status, and is often paired with strong red wines from the south-west of France.
Around 234 tons of the cheese were made in 2021, compared to 6,849 tons of Brie de Meaux.
