The irresistible cheeses of Marie-Anne Cantin
When the waiter set my first French cheese plate before me, I couldn't quite believe that I was going to be allowed to eat all those slices with just a fork, forgoing the dulling addition of bread, crackers or crisps. Cheese is absolutely one of the great loves of my life, and now I was finally being given the nod to publicly consume it straight-up, as if I was sawing into a steak instead of a rectangle of nutty Cantal.
If you love cheese, France and England are pretty much where it's at. England excels in all manner of pungent, tangy wheels, while France corners the market on those that stink and ooze. One can find a fromagerie on every other block in this city, but Marie-Anne Cantin's shop off Rue Cler stands out from the pack. You might be innocently admiring a pretty pashmina in a store window half a block away, but the earthy, almost barnyard aroma of her selection of cellar-ripened cheeses will inevitably wind its way down the street, entangle itself in your olfactory bulb and draw you inexorably closer to her threshold.
Rue Cler at night.
The shop is tidily arranged with tiered wooden racks that, unlike most cheesemongers' glass cases, let you get up close and personal with the products. A cordial staff steers you in the right direction and helps make sense of all those tiny, button-shaped chevres (and will vacuum pack your new treasures upon request, helpful for anyone who wants to avoid getting busted by those cute yet irksome agricultural beagles in U.S. Customs). My favorite purchase remains Madame Cantin's signature Saint Antoine, an incredibly mild, buttery cheese with a velvety texture; it's named after her husband.
Marie-Anne Cantin
12, rue du Champ de Mars
Paris 75007
01 45 50 43 94
If you love cheese, France and England are pretty much where it's at. England excels in all manner of pungent, tangy wheels, while France corners the market on those that stink and ooze. One can find a fromagerie on every other block in this city, but Marie-Anne Cantin's shop off Rue Cler stands out from the pack. You might be innocently admiring a pretty pashmina in a store window half a block away, but the earthy, almost barnyard aroma of her selection of cellar-ripened cheeses will inevitably wind its way down the street, entangle itself in your olfactory bulb and draw you inexorably closer to her threshold.
Rue Cler at night.
The shop is tidily arranged with tiered wooden racks that, unlike most cheesemongers' glass cases, let you get up close and personal with the products. A cordial staff steers you in the right direction and helps make sense of all those tiny, button-shaped chevres (and will vacuum pack your new treasures upon request, helpful for anyone who wants to avoid getting busted by those cute yet irksome agricultural beagles in U.S. Customs). My favorite purchase remains Madame Cantin's signature Saint Antoine, an incredibly mild, buttery cheese with a velvety texture; it's named after her husband.
Marie-Anne Cantin
12, rue du Champ de Mars
Paris 75007
01 45 50 43 94
posted by cindym at 6:42 AM
6 Comments:
Aww. That's sweet about the St. Antoine. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to make something you could name after someone you loved, something that people could consume and carry a little bit of its namesake's away with them.
Cindy,
Sadly, I've had to ban myself from my favorite cheese store. I simply don't have the required self-control to shop there.[sigh]
Love French cheese -- you just can't get the same thing in the States, even imported from France. By the way, we have often brought some home just double-bagged in Zip-lok bags, not even vacuum packed. Declare it to the Ag police because they don't seem to care if you bring it in. They DO care if you don't declare it.
Thanks for the lovely photo of Rue Cler. We enjoyed walking down that street and window shopping, butas much as my husband and love cheese we were too intimidated to walk into Marie Anne's shop. What we saw through the window was amazing though!!
If I'm not mistaken, we ate at the cafe with the menu offerings sign at the lower right of your photo. I believe there is a hair salon right next door where I tried to get my hair styled and cut, but the water was shut down -- and while eating our lunch and shipping our wine, we smelled a delightful scent of a full bodied cheese shop! Marie-Anne Cantin! Of course, we wandered into the shop after lunch!
No, I AM mistaken. Your photo is of Rue Cler! The cafe was on the corner of rue du Champ de Mars and rue Valadon. I'm sure it must have been 2 shops away from Marie Anne Cantin!
Post a Comment
<< Home