French Favorites
This installment celebrates the flavors of France. Rustic charcuterie and nutty cheese bring to mind a leisurely French apéritif. Pair your spread with a crisp baguette, fresh fruit, and your favorite French wine and imagine yourself at a charming café or countryside table in France. Bon appétit!
In this installment
Pork Pistachio Pâté
Mimolette Cheese
Pork Pistachio Pâté
Using sustainably, humanely raised pork, the meat masters at Olympia Provisions mix in a bit of milk and bread for body, plus onion, garlic, fresh herbs, spices, a dab of port wine, and pistachios. The texture is wonderful: chunky, meaty, nutty, not quite spreadable on a cracker but really great on crusty bread with mustard. Serve with some well-aged cheese and a few pickles and you’d swear you were feasting in a country pub.
Mimolette Cheese
We often desire the forbidden and this is a cheese that was born of that very desire. In the 17th century, King Louis XIV banned Dutch Edam cheese in Flanders, the northernmost region of France. Missing the Dutch Edam, French cheesemakers reproduced it—but with a Gallic twist. They made the shape rounder, like a melon. And they added Roucou, known today as annatto, a natural red-orange dye from the seeds of the achiote tree, which made the cheese a bright orange color.
Mimolette is mild in flavor but it does possess an intense nutty, salty and fruity flavor, like pineapple. While it can be eaten when it’s young, unlike Edam, it is best when aged over 12 months. We’ve selected wheels for you that are aged closer to 14 months.