An American in Provence

I don't usually follow my exclamations of "That looks horrid!" with "I am going to buy it and eat it!" but for cheese I will make an exception.

I bought this one, Epoisses des Ramparts, for €6.50, which is higher than my usual range for cheeses.

It was covered in a plastic wrap, which made it look much worse.

However, (almost) always willing to put myself to the cheese tasting test for my adoring public, I bought it and brought it home.

It is an incredibly strong cheese, imbibed with Marc, a type of Brandy according to Wikipedia. This type of cheese comes from the Bourgogne region. This is an AOC (appelation d'origine controlé) cheese. It is said that Napoleon tried this cheese and liked it. The book further states that these cheese were highly regarded at the end of the 19th century, but their popularity waned until after the 2nd WW. It was resuscitated in 1956 by Mr. Berthaut, and that today only one farm produces the official epoisses. There are also artisanal versions.

Link to Wikipedia article.