If you are out to dinner at a fine restaurant with an important client, it is a good idea as a luxury real estate marketing professional, to know your cheeses. Here is some background information that is valuable to know.
Although the United States is the largest producer of cheese it is a marginal exporter. While ranking third in production, France is the largest exporter of cheeses. The most revered cheese makers are the French. The impact of French cheese is evident when you read the following quotes.
"A country producing almost 360 different types of cheese cannot die." Winston Churchill, June 1940
"How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?" Charles de Gaulle, 1960
"A meal without cheese is a beautiful woman with an eye missing". Brillat Savarin, epicure and gastronome from his book The Physiology of Taste 1825.
Currently France makes over 1000 types of cheeses, and recently revived a cheese that hasn’t been made for over 200 years. Recently Fromage de Clon, also known as the cheese of popes and kings has reappeared thanks to the diligence of a historian Jerome Dupasquier who found a recipe in a dusty box. “The taste is nutty and sweet with a tang of saffron, and eating it is like listening to Vivaldi on a Stradivarius,” according to Gourmet Magazine. “It is can be ordered directly from the cheese maker in France, the Perrigots located in the village of Drom.
To get acquainted with some of the world’s best cheeses find a cheese shop in town and taste some new cheeses. Plan a cheese party and have a tasting with friends. Or, visit the imported cheese section at a grocery store and invest in a half-dozen cheeses that you have not yet tried. Then, go to Google and look them up. You never know when this information will come in handy.
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