Cheese is about the only thing we eat that is still ALIVE.
Having just spent two weeks in France, I have to say I love french culinary culture. It is very civilized to have a plate of different cheeses between the main course and dessert. Cheeses that are illegal here. And the right wine to accompany your cheese. Superb.
http://www.library.unr.edu/friends/t...e/fromage.html
The cheese you eat in France and the French cheese you eat in the U.S. aren’t necessarily the same. A major reason they don’t taste the same is that USDA regulations bar the importation of cheese made from unpasteurized milk that has been aged less than 60 days. Pasteurization may make cheese "safe" but it kills all the microbes that give the cheese its character and flavor and keeps it a live, ever-changing organism. This regulation rules out the importation of Frances’ finest fresh young cheese.
Gen. Charles de Gaulle, remarking on the difficulty of uniting the French on a single issue after WWII, famously grumbled: "you cannot easily bring together a country that has 265 kinds of cheese." Charlie’s comments need updating: These days, France’s cheese count is upwards of 500 types.