The following is a list of cheeses from France. France is home to a very large number of cheese types. An estimate of this number is between 350 and 400.
Classification
Classification of the full range of cheeses in France is a daunting task. The following table gives the four main categories of production that are permitted in France by the AOC regulatory body.
| Category
| Notes
|
| Fermier
| A single 'farmer' manufactures the cheese on site using traditional methods and unpasteurized milk. All milk must come from animals raised on his farm.
|
| Artisanal
| A single manufacturer purchases milk from another farm (or uses his own) to make cheese.
|
| Coopérative
| A group of local dairy farmers pool their milk to make a cheese as part of a collective.
|
| Industriel
| An industrial process is used to make cheese on a large scale.
|
Protected Designation of Origin
Under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, certain well-established cheeses, including many French cheeses, are covered by a Protected Designation of Origin and other, less stringent designations of geographical origin for traditional specialties.
A complete list of agricultural products with an EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), or Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG), listed alphabetically by nation, is at the Europa Agriculture site.
List of Protected Designation of Origin French cheeses
Many familiar generic types, like Boursin, are not covered. It may come as a surprise to see varieties of Emmental cheese protected as a French cheese. This list differs from those of AOC status. See also AOC cheeses.
- Abondance
- Beaufort
- Bleu d'Auvergne (AOC, Auvergne)
- Bleu des Causses
- Bleu du Haut-Jura , de Gex , de Septmoncel
- Bleu du Vercors
- Brie de Meaux
- Brie de Melun
- Brocciu Corse or Brocciu
- Cantal or Fourme de Cantal or Cantalet (AOC, Auvergne)
- Camembert de Normandie
- Chabichou du Poitou
- Chaource
- Comté
- Crottin de Chavignol ou Chavignol
- Délice de Bourgogne
- Emmental de Savoie
- Emmental français est-central
- Epoisses de Bourgogne
- Fourme d'Ambert or Fourme de Montbrison (AOC, Auvergne)
- Laguiole
- Langres
- Livarot
- Maroilles or Marolles
- Mont d'or or Vacherin du Haut-Doubs
- Morbier
- Munster or Munster-Géromé
- Neufchâtel
- Ossau-lraty
- Pélardon
- Picodon de l'Ardèche or Picodon de la Drôme
- Pont-l'Évêque
- Pouligny-Saint-Pierre
- Reblochon or Reblochon de Savoie
- Rocamadour
- Roquefort
- Saint-Nectaire (AOC, Auvergne)
- Sainte-Maure de Touraine
- Salers (AOC, Auvergne)
- Selles-sur-Cher
- Tomme de Savoie
- Tomme des Pyrénées
Other French cheeses include
See also
Quotes
- "Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays qui a deux cent quarante-six variétés de fromage?"
- ("How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?")
- Charles de Gaulle (from Les Mots du Général, Ernest Mignon (1962))