Cheese — over 300 varieties

Charles de Gaulle is said to have remarked: "How can you govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?" Today, there are over 1,200 registered varieties, 46 of which have protected designation of origin (AOP). France produces nearly 2 million tons of cheese annually — and consumes most of it itself.

The Great Cheese Families

• Soft cheese with white mold — Camembert de Normandie (AOP, from raw milk!), Brie de Meaux, Brillat-Savarin (70% fat, triple-cream)
• Soft cheese with washed rind — Époisses (so pungent that it is said to be banned on some TGVs), Munster, Livarot, Maroilles
• Hard cheese — Comté (the best-selling AOP cheese in France, from the Jura), Beaufort ("Gruyère of the Alps"), Cantal
• Blue cheese — Roquefort (from sheep's milk, aged in the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon), Bleu d'Auvergne, Fourme d'Ambert
• Goat cheese — Crottin de Chavignol, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Valençay (pyramid-shaped, allegedly because Napoleon chopped off the top)

Cheese in France is served after the main course and before dessert — never as a starter. You take from the plateau (cheese board), which is passed around clockwise. Basic rule: Never cut off the tip of a wedge (the "nose"), but cut parallel to the rind so everyone gets an equal share of the creamy interior.