This has become a very evident problem for me in France, A.K.A. the land of over 300 cheeses (to paraphrase my man Charles De Gaulle).
First, I'd like to clarify that it is not all cheeses I'm talking about today.
I do like camembert and brie, you know, the usual Frenchy cheese. And don't even get me started on Italian cheese! LOOOVE parmesan and asiago. But a lot of the fromage that I've had while studying abroad has not been a pleasant experience. I like what I like, okaaayyyyyy??? If I'm more of a Wisconsin sharp cheddar cheese gal well, hey, at least it isn't American cheese, or whatever that stuff is (*ahem* cheese product...)!
Second, cheese is everywhere, everyday, and I could kinda just use a break!
Maybe its just French food in general that I'm getting tired of (gasp! - say it ain't so!). Cheese is on sandwiches, in crêpes, on pasta, in sauces, it's just... everything!
Thirdly, my tummy does not get on too well with the dairy products en France.
Gross, I know, maybe TMI, but here we go, I'm sharing anyway! Ma lil tumtum is not très happy when I have any cream, milk, or soft cheese. I think it might have to do with the pasteurization process here (or lack thereof), but any quantity larger than one slice of cheese will put me in bed for a few hours. So we like to just avoid cheese sometimes, too.
Tonight for dinner, we had a casserole of sorts: endives wrapped in ham slices, baked in a creamy cheese sauce. There was some pasta on the side and a salad. And cheese at the end!
While buttered pasta would have been just fine for me, Host Mom insisted on spooning me up some of that sauce to go with my pasta. Juste un peu, I directed, but she proceeded to drench my plate in white cheesey goo. That really just ruined the pasta. And the ham-endive wrap. I don't know what kind of cheese it was but it was just icky. And now I have a tummy ache. Sorry, Host Mom, this one didn't do it for me :(
Up the street from the IAU is a to-go pasta place where I get lunch every Monday ("Ready for lunch? It's pasta Monday!" I've been known to declare to my friends after film class. We make the fifty yard pilgrimage and come back with our little green cartons of happiness together). Anyway, when you place your order you tell them what shape pasta, what sauce, what size box, and what cheese. You have two choices: emmentel ou rappé italian (French cheese or Italian cheese). I always ask for Italian cheese because emmentel is basically Swiss cheese and who on earth puts Swiss cheese on top of their pasta, no I don't care if it's grated or not!
The South of France is all about goat cheese, chevre, and blue cheese, neither of which I can say I enjoy, either. A few weeks ago, I unknowingly served myself some goat cheese and resorted to stuffing my face with bread so I could avoid grimacing at the dinner table - so embarrassing! Gosh, I sound awfully picky today! But when there are so many other cheeses out there, I get frustrated having to eat these few, specific types of cheese that I just plain do not like :( What luck; how did this happen?
However, if there is one cheese I do love and will always adore, it is this one:
xxo, S
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