It has been a long time since we had a full-blown cheese platter for dinner. Last Saturday it happened again, and this is what we did: seafood for the first course (What is a whelk?) and cheese with salad for the second course. It does not get better than this, does it?

This time we did a bit of experimenting and did not stick exclusively to French cheese. 

Clockwise from the top right:

• Boutton de Culotte (France): Goat milk cheese from Bourgogne. Semi-hard. Best when it is even harder. Lovely, balanced, medium strong taste.
• Salers (France): Cow milk cheese from the center part of France (Auvergne). The region is also known for volcanoes and Cantal cheese. One of my favorite cheeses of France.
• Bethmale (France): Soft cow milk cheese from Midi-Pyrénées near the Pyrenees mountains. My husband’s favorite cheese. Strong cow taste and smell! Also exists made from goat milk.
• Shropshire Blue (UK): I wanted to find Stilton, but fromagerie didn’t have it. So we had Shropshire Blue (cow milk), which is considered a cross between Stilton and Cheshire. Strong and soft at the same time, but perfect for blue cheese lovers.
• Pecorino with Black Peppers (Italy):  Semi hard cheese from Tuscany. Pungent. I loved the black peppers. Also loved the texture. Perfect in salads (I put cubes of it today in my chicken, tomato, avocado and artichoke salad. Yummy).

As there are hundreds of cheeses in France (some say 500 different types), I guess I will be posting many cheese platter photos!

PS What is your favorite French cheese?