Le Cheese Geek – Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Fromage

When you're in Paris you (naturally) want to visit some of those cute cheese shops, the fromageries. But you feel... inadequate. How is it that every French woman, man, and child seems enlightened about cheese, yet to you (and us!) the world of French cheeses seems a mystery.

Fromageries in Paris are about the size of a postage stamp with nowhere to hide — it's just you and the cheesemonger in the small space. Around you will be a dazzling display of fresh, ripe, oozing cheeses, some the size of a pebble, some the size of a boulder. Will you nervously look around and run out of the shop without any cheese? Luckily, our Parisian pal Fabrice is here to help out. Before you arrive in Paris book a session with Fabrice at his petit cheese tasting room to get some culinary training before you hit the fromageries.

Tasting with Le Cheese Geek

Fabrice is a graduate of a prestigious cheese college where he learned all about the nerdy science of cheesemaking and cheese aging. But he was lonely spending all day in the cheese cave talking to no one but the giant rounds of brie that he bathed on a daily basis. Soon, though, this original cheese geek began sharing his cheese savoir faire with friends and family — before you could say "camembert" he had launched his cheese school for travelers to Paris.

Fabrice makes understanding French cheese easy with his fun, fact-filled, and somewhat cheesy seminar. Here you learn how to decipher the language of cheese and how to experience it using most of your senses — touch, feel, and taste. Along the way there are some entertaining exercises like a blindfolded tasting to get your taste buds and smell buds turned on. Fabrice breaks down the eight types of cheese and describes them all in detail. He also walks you through the art of pairing by describing the intensity, aroma, texture, and taste of the cheeses.

Everything you ever wanted to know about French cheese (but were afraid to ask) is covered in the entertaining two-hour seminar, including the wheel of aromas, the map of French cheeses, the steps of cheesemaking, the types of cheese, and most importantly, the art of pairing.

Best of all, as you decipher the world of French cheese from Ossau-Iraty to Roquefort, Munster to Banon, and Sainte Nectaire to Livarot you will taste, taste, and taste some more. We recommend you arrive hungry without plans for lunch or dinner afterwards. As you make your way through the fantastic selection of artisan cheeses, you'll also be fed accompaniments like black cherry jam and a selection of local breads and crackers.

Armed with all the expertise learned at Le Cheese Geek tasting you will boldly enter any fromagerie in the city knowing what to ask for. You will have discovered which cheeses appeal to you, and even be able to match them with cider, wine, beer, or fruit juice to coax out the subtle nuances of tous les fromages de France.

Le Cheese Geek's tasting room is found in a lesser-visited neighborhood of the 10th Arrondissement, but if you want to learn all about this French food group, it's worth the trip. Tastings sessions are available in the afternoon and the evening.