ACDB

This may be a 'stupid' question...when I go into a 'cheese shop' or at a market can I order small amounts? Example: I want to purchase several different types of cheese. I would want what would be 1/4lb. of each. How would I order realizing that lb aren't in France!
Suggestions welcomed.

giro

cheese is sold by the kilogram. ie. €28 per KG
A kilogram is 2.2 lbs. So 1/4 lb. is about 113 grams

Google measurement converters and have fun!

Hez

Yes, you can order small amounts. If you want 1/4lb - that's about 100 Grams. Granted, my French isn't super awesome but something like "cent grammes de cette" while pointing at what you want has always worked for me. If they show you how much they are going to cut and you want more then say "un peu plus", if you want less than "un peu moins". If it's just right than I say "oui, parfait".

My husband knows how to ask for the stinkiest cheese they have - which always draws both snickers and admiration - and pleas from me to wrap it very well and bag it in at least 3 bags!

hth.

giro

I should add, that in my experience they will show you the cheese and suggest the amount that they will cut for you. You can then eyeball it and suggest a larger or smaller amount. They can't really weigh it as it wont be sliced, rather it will be given to you as a chunk off the bigger piece of cheese. After one or two times you will get pretty good in getting the right amount! The cheese shops that I have been in rarely had precut pieces of cheese the way they do in the states.
Different way of doing things...that's what makes it fun!

Robert2533

If you are in Paris, or just about anywhere else, you can have the cheese vacuum packed so that it will last until you get home. If you're only interested in consuming it while in France, then no problem. It's always better to buy cheese at the weekly market, where you can sample and buy what you want.

There are dozens of great cheese shops in Paris: http://parisbymouth.com/paris-cheese-shops/

Hez

LOL! Robert2533 - vacuum packed - that's what I'm going to do with that stinky cheese my husband loves - even if he is going to eat it in the next few days! Great idea!!!

kerouac

Smaller cheeses are sold by the unit. For the larger cheeses that need to be cut, the seller will position his knife until you confirm the appropriate size of the slice that you want -- then he'll weigh it.

Ackislander

Serious cheese sellers (affineurs) will expect you to tell them when you are planning to serve the cheese. Really good ones will ask because a cheese that is ready for tonight or tomorrow will be past it on Saturday.

chartley

I am always surprised that Americans who visit France and report on the food never mention the cheese course. Don't they have it, or do they have but not feel it worthy of comment?

To my mind, the cheese course is one of the most distinctive features of a French dinner, and the best opportunity to talk to the restaurant staff about the food being served.

rhon

Our experience of buying cheese in France is as has been described above. We self cater and trying lots of different cheeses is one of the pleasures of a trip to France. Do a little research before you go on the cheeses of France. As has already been mentioned, some cheeses come as single units and some can be cut from a larger block. We have never had a problem buying a small amount. This gives you the opportunity to try a few different ones.
Talking of smelly cheeses, we bought a farmhouse munster from a market. Delicious. But an affectionate gesture from DH later gave the impression that something had died in his moustache!! Do not be put off by pungency. It will be worth it.

Nikki

The cheese course at Le Comptoir du Relais in Paris is the opening screen on my iPad. Cheese is one of my top reasons for going to France. But I am reduced to helplessness in front of the overwhelming display in a French cheese shop. I point and hope for the best, and am seldom disappointed.

Small amounts are no problem. As others have said, just point when they have moved the knife to the size you want.

YankyGal

We encountered our first problem trying to order a small amount of different cheeses last month. I understand if the fromager didn't want to cut 100 grams off 30 different types of cheese, but we weren't asking for that! We wanted about 3 cheeses, 100 grams each. He refused to cut some of the pieces he already had in the case (and I'm not talking about the units kerouac mentioned), which were more than double or triple that amount. In hindsight, we should have politely said "never mind" - he was extremely unfriendly from the get-go. Since we stay in the same neighborhood every trip, we won't be back. There's more fromageries within close proximity that I'm confident will be a better experience, i.e. along the lines of all the ones I've had in the past.

Dukey1

Figure 1/4 Lb at about 125 grams rather than the exact 113. Makes it much easier to remember and multiply:

1/2 lb = 250 grams
3/4 lb = 375 grams, etc. Also may make it a bit easier for the store worker to weigh out.

NO, you aren't going to get cheated and NO you won't regret getting a little more to eat. Sometimes so-called "accuracy" is a PITA.

Hez

I think if you don't speak french well, using whole 100s rather than needing to also know 50s & 75s is much easier, and really just as precise.

(ie "trois cent" vs "trois cent soixante quinze")

ACDB

Thank you ALL - I will certainly more comfortable in trying some new cheeses! The tips are fantastic and I will be sharing with my touring group.
Merci

dutyfree

Just remember that if you decide to bring any cheese back to the states that it can only be HARD cheese or customs will confiscate it.

kerouac

... but only if they find it hidden in your dirty clothes.

Hez

Just beware that if you are caught customs keeps record of it. I actually declared some pate that was not allowed. It was confiscated, no big deal. Fast forward 4 years at my Global Entry interview - "ah, I see here on such and such a date you tried to bring some pate into the country" - me (kind of freaking out) - "but I declared it!" - officer - "yes, I can see that - definitely not a problem because you declared it!". I was stunned that they had record of that, and also that it may have been a problem with getting Global Entry if I hadn't.

kerouac

They have never done that to me. They are much more interested in the fact that I had 2 passports stolen in 2 years. They do not like that at all, and I am still paying the price more than 15 years later with special interviews and sometimes an escort to the "suspicious character" room.

Anyway, I was going to say that if you know really nothing about cheese, it can be useful to go to a supermarket and inspect (and sniff) what is on sale. Note which ones look interesting, and then you can go to the cheese shop and get the real deal -- keep in mind that that aroma of the real stuff will be about 300% more powerful than what you saw at the supermarket.