Fromage with love: 101 kinds of French cheese at Sofitel before Bastille Day

Text and photos by BARBARA MARCHADESCH, GMA News

Published July 6, 2014 2:27pm

The boat-shaped Bouyguette Du Segala Romarin (center) is a creamy, aromatic cheese flavored with rosemary and thyme.

In the run-up to its celebration of Bastille Day on July 14, French-managed Sofitel Philippine Plaza is bringing in the varied flavors, shapes and textures of dozens of its most famous product after wine: cheese.

With the theme "J'adore le fromage," the festival offers 101 kinds of premium French cheeses that Sofitel has flown in from France—as well as Gérard Poulard, a maître fromagier (like a sommelier, but for cheese, Sofitel executive chef Eric Costille says helpfully) from whose collection the cheeses are sourced.

And it's an amazing collection—there are familiar names like Camembert, Brie and Roquefort, but many more delicious cheeses the general public hasn't heard of, in forms you wouldn't think cheese comes in: wrinkly pyramids, yellow hearts, charcoal-dusted rounds, curved dolphins.

Cathare is a goat's cheese covered in charcoal powder and marked with a medieval cross. Inside it is white, soft and creamy.

Some of the cheeses are flavored with herbs and seasonings, such as the Figuette du Tarn, a raw goat's milk cheese flavored with paprika and cumin.

The donut-shaped Couronne Lochoise Cendree looks gray on the outside due to its rind being coated in ash, but inside it's yet another soft, creamy cheese, with a slightly buttery taste.

Due to the timing of the festival, the cheeses flown in by Poulard are what he calls springtime and summertime cheeses ("spring/summer—like in fashion," he jokes), mostly creamy cheeses made from goat's milk.

Pressed to name a favorite, both he and Costille said that there were too many choices and that he couldn't name one, but in the end Costille revealed that he and Poulard, anticipating the question, had drawn up a list of 12 cheeses that they felt were the best. While Costille read off the list, Poulard went around the huge table of cheeses spread out before the audience, plucking one and then the other and displaying each to the media.

Sofitel offers wine and cheese pairing lessons from July 9 to 13.

From July 9 to 13, Sofitel also offers wine and cheese tasting lessons conducted by Poulard and wine specialist Pierre-Marie David at Spiral’s L’Epicerie (Cheese Room). The hour-long classes will have a maximum of eight participants at P1,500 net per person, and will start at 4:30 p.m.

On JUly 10, Le Bar will hold a Wine and Cheese buffet on the 10th of July with unlimited wine and cheese from Poulard's collection, with Poulard and wine expert Pierre-Marie David. The buffet will be from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at P1,850 net. — LBG, GMA News

"J'adore le fromage'" runs at Sofitel Philippine Plaza from July 9 to 13. For reservations and inquiries, call (632) 832-6988 or email fbreservations@sofitelmanila.com.

Tags: cheese, sofitelphilippineplaza