The French cheesemonger, who was in Hong Kong recently, tells Bernice Chan about expanding internationally, how he chooses his cheese and makes sure it is presented just right
How did you get into cheesemaking? "My paternal grandmother was a goat-cheese maker [in the Loire Valley, France] and I made cheese with her when I was five years old. When I was older I helped my father, who was a goat-cheese affineur ['cheese ager'], to package cheeses. And I'm an affineur of whatever cheeses I like."
How do you choose your cheese? "I pick cheese I'd like to eat for breakfast; I can only buy and sell cheese that I love. After that we figure out where I can sell the cheeses. If it is a fragile product, then it's just for the French market. We age the cheese accordingly so that it's just right for my customers. Triple cream cheeses don't travel well, whereas hard cheeses have already been dried so they're ready to go. It takes nearly 10 days to ship from my [cellar] to Hong Kong so we have to take this into consideration so that by the time it arrives here it's at the perfect time to eat. I have to taste the cheese wheel by wheel because some cheeses are made with milk from different producers, so they can vary."
To read the rest of the story, please go to: South China Morning Post
