Aged cheese.

Since aged cheese is 1/3 of my blog's title, I thought it appropriate to talk about my cheese experiences here in Paris.

So my new favorite thing is Roquefort cheese. It's not really for the faint of heart. Roquefort cheese is this super intense type of blue cheese that comes from sheep's milk, has been injecting with a certain mold, and has been aged for three months.  The omniscient Wikipedia says, "The cheese is white, tangy, crumbly and slightly moist, with distinctive veins of green mold . . . The overall flavor sensation begins slightly mild, then waxes sweet, then smoky, and fades to a salty finish." Yum.

It's the second most-sold French cheese. Frenchies love it. I love it. And my host family knows I love it. They give it to me every day after the main course and before the last course, usually fruit. Because one time I had mentioned that I like really strong cheeses (once when I went to Caseus, that fromagerie in New Haven, I ordered the cheese platter and ate all the pungent cheese no one else liked...from then, I knew).  And they suggested that one. And since then it's been a beautiful love affair between me and my daily post-dinner bout of Roquefort cheese on a slice of baguette bread.

One of my goals for next week is to make it to a cheese and wine tasting for lunch one day.  I asked my host family for suggestions of not-too-expensive fromageries and they gave me a couple of home-town faves so I'm going to hit those up.

And last thing about my cheese experiences here. Another thing I like to do is try the different "Three Cheese" paninis that the neighborhood boulangeries sell. They always have different combinations and, today, I struck gold for the one I got for lunch.  I'm not sure what was in mine but it was DIVINE.

OH, I just remembered what prompted me to post this more-random-than-usual blurb in the first place. I was in my room half an hour ago (it was a little past midnight) and I had a huuuge craving for some Roquefort cheese, so I went to the fridge and got some out and sliced myself a piece of baguette bread and happily started munching on my midnight snack while watching--yes, Eddie--Mad Men at the kitchen counter. My host family has been insisting since the beginning, "If you ever get hungry, you should just grab whatever in the fridge!" So...I don't know if they really meant it (or perhaps it was a horrible mistranslation on my part) but I decided to go ahead and do it tonight. And I was kind of being stealthy about it for no reason (actually, it was probably because all the lights were off and I thought everyone was asleep) so when my host dad walked into the kitchen, I kind of jerked and awkwardly looked at him like a kid just caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Then he made some remark like "wow you really like your cheese" or something or actually I'm making that up because I have no idea what he said then I sheepishly smiled at him and scurried back to my room.

I'm so unnecessarily awk.

Anyway, summary: cheese is great.