Maroilles the French AOP Cheese. The Village of Maroilles That Gave the Cheese its Name.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

  
A 700 gram Maroilles AOP
The Maroilles AOP may also be called the Maroilles Gris de Lille.
Photograph courtesy of Foquet. Qui Veut du Fromage
   
The Maroilles Cheese.
 
The Maroilles AOP cheese is a flavorsome, ivory colored, 28.5% fat, cow’s milk cheese, made with unpasteurized milk on farms and with pasteurized milk in dairies.  Maroilles is easily identified by its orange to deep orange-red rind and its very strong smell!  Luckily, for us cheese lovers the taste is nothing like the aroma; it has a slightly sweet taste along with a creamy texture. If the cheese tastes even a little like it smells send it back! 

The maturing cheese

Most Maroilles cheeses are matured from five - weeks to four months, and all the time that the cheese is maturing, it is washed in brine.  Some smaller cheeses are matured for shorter periods. As the cheese ages, the rind changes from light yellow to orange and then to orange-red, the cheese itself is ivory. When the cheese is young, it may be used in cooked dishes, but a young cheese will not add much to a cheese plate. Buy a mature cheese. The rind of a mature Maroilles cheese is edible, but it has little to add to the taste of the cheese. 

The sizes of the Maroilles cheese.

The Maroilles is sold in square blocks, with the most dairy produced cheeses coming in square shapes and weighing  700 grams; the dairies produce 90% of the cheese on the market. From farms come cheeses weighing 700 grams, and they and the dairies produce three other sizes.

The Maroilles Sorbais.  A 3/4 size cheese that weighs approximately 550 grams and is matured for at least four weeks.

The Maroilles Mignon. A 1/2 size cheese that weighs approximately  350 grams and matured for at least three weeks.

The Maroilles Quart.  A 1/4 size cheese that weighs approximately 180 grams and matured for at least two weeks.
  
A wedge of Maroilles

www.flickr.com/photos/vialbost/5001192295/
  
The Maroilles cheese’s origins.

According to tradition, that has a history to support it, this cheese, or its forbear, was created by a monk in Abbaye de Maroilles, the Abbey of Maroilles, over 1,000 years ago.  The monks, in the days long before refrigeration, created cheeses to save surplus milk, and, probably, more than half of the cheeses of France have histories linked to religious orders. The Abbey of Maroilles was destroyed during the French revolution; however, the cheese continues to be made on farms and in larger dairies in the old Thiérache and Avenois provinces of Northern France. These ancient provinces are today parts of the departments of Aisne and Nord that, since 1-1-2016, have been part of the super region of Hauts-de-France. The village of Maroilles is in the department of Nord and borders Belgium
  
Cheeses made in a manner similar to the Maroilles AOP.

When the French find a great tasting cheese, they do not leave it alone; the recipe of the Maroilles has proven successful, and in local restaurants and cheese shops, you will be offered at least two or three choices from the Maroilles family.
     
    
Well-known cheeses in the Maroilles family include the Boulette d'Avesnes, a cone-shaped cheese made with added parsley chervil and tarragon; the Vieux Lille a cheese made exactly like Maroilles, but soaked for three months in brine and aged from 5-6 months, and the Abbaye de Troisvaux cheese which is washed with beer. At least another eight kinds of cheese are connected to the Maroilles, and to taste them all will need time and planning.
        
Visiting the  beautiful village of Maroilles and buying their cheese.
 

  
The village of Maroilles is one of the most beautiful villages in France with just under 1,500 inhabitants.  Since this is the cheese’s home try the cheese in a cheese shop or if you are dining in a local restaurant make sure it is on their cheese plate before your sit down! Maroilles and its surroundings has a large number of good restaurants that offer many local dishes you will only find in the north of France.  If you do buy a cheese, or part of one, to take home, make sure that it is vacuum packed or security may have the cheese removed for its smell. At home, keep the cheese in the refrigerator, not the freezer, in plastic wrap in a separate plastic container, and then you may enjoy it for a month or more. Take it out of the refrigerator one hour before serving,  Whether you are dining or walking around this beautiful village try their excellent local cider. As a cider fan, I confirm that it has much to recommend it.  For more about French ciders see the link at the end of this post.
   
The Maroilles residents are busy all year round.

Here are a few dates from the  Maroilles diary:

The first Sunday in April: 
The L'Enfer Vert mountain bike competition.


L'Enfer Vert, the Green Hell mountain biking competition has over 4,000 participants every year, and there are other biking competitions during the year. All information is available on the local bike club's French-language website at http://enfervert.pagesperso-orange.fr/. with the Google and Microsoft translate apps everything is clear.

  
   
May 1:
The Maroilles, 20 km cross-country competition.


The Maroille 20 km cross-country running competition, the 20 km de Maroilles. The 4,000 plus runners run through the village and the farmland around. At the same time, there is a 20km handicapped race and for those who prefer a slower pace there is a 10 km hike. Information at the French language website: http://www.20km-maroilles.com/           
   

    
Join the Maroilles 20 km (12 miles) cross-country competition.

The Third  Sunday in June:
The Brocante de Maroilles and the Maroilles Crafts and Sculpture festival
        
The Brocante de Maroilles is the most famous of all Maroilles happenings. The  Brocante de Maroilles is a gigantic antique/flea market with over 600 exhibitors that takes up 6,000 meters of sidewalk space. There are always tens of thousands of visitors looking for unique and special purchases so check the website for parking places.
  
In conjunction with the Brocante de Maroilles, there is the Maroilles Crafts and Sculpture festival which takes place inside various village buildings and halls.  Information on both happenings may be found at the French language website: www.maroillesartisanatdart.voila.net
    
A detail from the Art and Sculpture Festival at Maroilles.
Photograph courtesy of Olivier Duquesne
www.flickr.com/photos/daffyduke/1168532751/
           
The second Sunday in August: 

The Maroilles Fete de la Flamiche.

The Maroilles Fete de la Flamiche is a food festival that celebrates the Flamiche, a specialty of this area, which is part of old Picardy.  The Flamiche is now a traditional gourmet specialty despite being at its most basic a pie that looks somewhat like a quiche made with cream and leaks. However, flamiches do not have a single formula, and you will be offered a wide variety of flamiche creations. The Flamiche may be made with different dough and other added ingredients, though the leeks and cream will always remain. Locally, of course, the most popular additional component is the Maroilles cheese.
    
A slice of a Flamiche
www.flickr.com/photos/thedelicious/4013993896/
  
To do justice to the Flamiche, its history, its varied ingredients, and methods of serving it will need a post of its own.  The flamiche celebration in Maroilles includes workshops held by local artists and artisans, held alongside workshops for children in pottery and other crafts. There are also sales of other local products and of course the Maroilles cheese.  For more information, go to the French language website www.federationdesfetesdeterroir.com/ and then click on Maroilles in the column on the left side. This site has links to many other food happenings in the area., the most popular additional component is the Maroilles cheese.
  
For more information on these and other celebrations in the North of France there is an English language website at: http://www.tourisme-nord.com/

The Matisse Museum is just 17km, (10 miles) from Maroilles.

For the fans of Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954), just 17km (10 miles) from Maroilles is Matisse's birthplace.  Matisse was born in the small town of Le Cateau now part of the commune of Le Cateau-Cambrésis; in 1952, Matisse himself created the original museum now set in the former archbishop's Fénelon Palace. The museum has 170 works by Matisse, the third largest collection in France, and there are 65 works donated by another artist born in the area Auguste Herbin (1882 - 1960).  There is also a part of the Tériade (1889-1983) collection of artists' books along with other paintings and photographs.
    
A Matisse at the Musee Departemental Matisse Le Cateau Photograph courtesy of Allie_Caulfield


--------------------------------

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2014, 2020
 
--------------------------------

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases
on
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Herbes de Provence - The Herbs of Provence. Provencal Cuisine and the Herbes de Provence.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 


 
Herbes de Provence.
Photograph courtesy of Christopher Paquette

Until about seventy years ago, the term the Herbes of Provence did not indicate a spice group. Then if you had asked for the Herbs de Provence, you would have been given a list of the individual herbs that grew wild in Provence. Herbes of Provence, as a particular herb group, to be used for new recipes in French cuisine, is a relatively new creation and now includes specific herbs used together in modern Provencal cuisine. The idea was so successful that tourist purchases of bottled and bagged commercial preparations of dried Herbes de Provence are an important part of the grower's
incomes.

The group of herbs used depends on the chef; they will include five or six from the following list of fresh herbs:

Basilic, basil;  cerfeul, chervil; graines de Fenouil, fennel seeds; feuille de Laurier, bay leaves; marjolaine,marjoram; romarin; rosemary;  farigoule, wild thyme; thym, thyme; sauge, sage; sarriette, summer savory; and estragon, tarragon.  Some chefs add Lavender for its aroma. Lavender is the flower and scent of Provence.

Herbes de Provence on French Menus:
 
Bar Entier Grillé aux Graines de Fenouil et aux Herbes de Provence  A whole grilled European sea bass flavored with fennel seeds and the Herbs of Provence. European sea bass will be on many Provencal menus as loup, which is the fish's name in Occitan. Fennel has an aniseed taste and fennel seeds are stronger than the leaves.

Fennel.
Flowers at the top, seeds in the middle, and at the bottom the thin leaves.
www.flickr.com/photos/zoyachubby/463983617/


Camembert Braisé aux Herbes de Provence – Braised Camembert cheese flavored with the herbs of Provence. Here a whole Camembert braised will before serving. 

Civet de Porcelet et sa Polenta aux Herbes de Provence –civet is a traditional stew that initially was made with small wild animals including rabbit, hare, and young wild boar. Here it is made with suckling pig and served with polenta and flavored with the herbs of Provence. 
  
Bay leaves.
www.flickr.com/photos/55368994@N06/6238396132/

Entrecôte Grillée aux Herbes de Provence – A US rib eye, a UK sirloin steak, an entrecote grilled with the herbs of Provence. 

Les Côtelettes d'Agneau Grillées aux Herbes de Provence – Grilled lamb chops flavored with the herbs of Provence. 
  
When I am in Provence, and I see dishes like those noted above, I ask questions about the herbs used. Chefs demand fresh herbs and make changes when a particular fresh herb is not available. More importantly, the quantities of each herb used vary greatly between chef and chef, and that will significantly affect the taste. Furthermore, no chef uses them all at the same time, at the most six or seven. The fresh herbs come from local market gardeners, and that includes farigoule, wild thyme.  With such a wide choice of herbs and their proportions unlike the herb group, Les Fine Herbs do not expect a single flavor as you dine in Provence.

Lavender fields in Provence.
www.flickr.com/photos/decar66/14351116200/

While chefs demand fresh herbs, the tourists, including French tourists, are sold pre-packed dried herbs. Home cooks can create tastes closer to the original by buying many of these fresh herbs in markets at home, at least four or five will be available all year round. Caveat emptor: the pre-packed dried Herbes de Provence mostly includes only four or five of the original eleven or twelve; usually romarin, rosemary, sarriette, summer savory; ordinary cultivated thym, thyme, with origan, oregano with its overpowering taste replacing the lighter fresh marjolaine, marjoram. Many dried herb packages include lavender; lavender is only added for its scent as it does not affect the taste in any important way. From the label of contents, you will also see that each supplier uses a different percentage of each herb in their mix. 

Bags of dried Herbes de Provence on sale in the market.
   
The origins of the Herbs de Provence.

The cultural influences that created Provence are as varied as the herbs within the group. Nevertheless, all of the herbs that make up the Provencal herb group originated in the Mediterranean, Middle East or Asia, and all predated the discovery of the New World.

Farigoule, serpolet, wild thyme.
www.flickr.com/photos/14583963@N00/7836957046/

I always double check the origins of herbs and spices I learn from the delears on the web pages of Gernot Katzer and his Spice Pages:  http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/ and Eric Schoenzetter and his Toil d'Épices: http://www.toildepices.com/.  These two websites are full of herbal knowledge. Eric Schoenzetter includes, for Herbes de Province more options that include: clous de girofle -cloves; macis and fleur de muscade, mace and nutmeg; and genièvre or baie de genièvre, juniper berries.
  
  
Les Fine Herbes.


--------------------------------

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2014, 2018, 2020
 
 
--------------------------------

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases
on
French menus?
 
Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" (best when including the inverted commas), and search with Google, Bing, or another browser.  Behind the French Menu’s links, include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.


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