Philippe Olivier defends cheeses, tonight, on France 3

Boulonnais cheesemaker Philippe Olivier will appear on France 3 tonight at 8:50pm, in a report dedicated to cheese: "Ces fromages qu'on assassine".

Can you imagine a France without cheese? Impossible. With the festive season just around the corner, France 3 is devoting Wednesday evening to the subject. Boulonnais cheesemaker Philippe Olivier will make two appearances. The last five minutes of the film were shot in his store on rue Thiers, Boulogne. Philippe Olivier is something of a cheese encyclopedia: "I have a library of around 400 books on the subject. In the trade, I'm a bit of a man of culture and cheese history. (...) I receive an average of two calls a week from people wanting to produce cheeses that have sometimes disappeared". One day, BO-Film decided to make a film on the subject: "They contacted me very quickly. We brainstormed together about possible scenarios". The choice fell on a 20,000 km journey between France, Italy, Belgium and the United States. An opportunity "to tell the truth about French cheeses and their production around the world". For Philippe Olivier, it's essential not to get confused: there's cheese and there's cheese. There's no question of confusing a local product with an industrial one. "A raw-milk cheese is made from fresh milk straight from the cow's udder, unlike industrial pasteurized cheeses. (...) At the producers', the cheese is patiently ladled by hand, whereas in the factories, it's the work of the robots. "So there's nothing to see, but the cheesemaker moderates, "I don't mind that both exist, but don't let me think that they're all cheeses from our country's history".

"I'm a bit of a man of cheese culture and history".

Romain Olivier

Philippe Olivier also warns consumers to beware of counterfeit products: "A Camembert from Normandy is not necessarily the same as a Camembert made in Normandy. The wax in the latter may well have been imported from Hungary, for example." So be sure to read the label before buying a cheese in a supermarket. But in his store on rue Thiers, customers can't go wrong with quality, and the cheesemaker claims that there are"a lot of h-young people who come into my store". With the explosion in organic and ecological trends,"there's a back-to-basics feeling". Add to this the growing popularity of French cheese among foreigners, and the future looks bright.

Philippe Olivier's suggestions

The cheese platter is one of the must-have dishes of the festive season. Philippe Olivier gives us some advice and tasting suggestions. While some people opt for local cheeses for the festive season, others prefer a change of scenery, with Brie Bleu, Brie with truffles or Lucullus with fresh mint, for example. "For the holidays, people want cheese made from raw milk, cheese that tastes good". confides the rue Thiers cheesemonger.

More and more people are opting for themed platters: "Some choose to make a platter only with blue cheeses, others ask us to help them make a black-and-white or all-white platter. Still others choose cheeses by region or country." Philippe Olivier, for his part, opted for a Franche-Comté theme for Christmas Eve: "a Vacherin Mont-d'Or, a crystallized two-year-old Comté, a farm Morbier with a vin. de paille de Jura. "Three cheeses only: "There doesn't have to be more. Better big chunks than lots of little ones." And to accompany? "You can't go wrong if you accompany a cheese with alcohol from the same region. You can drink a cider with a cheese from Normandy". And contrary to popular belief, "75% of cheeses go better with white wine than red. As for the cheeses from our region, they go very well with beer". Above all, serve cheeses at room temperature and with bread: "the simplest is still the best".

Directed by La Voix du Nord

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