Le Meridien holds another cheese festival

Le Meridien holds another cheese festival

By Tim Cooper

JAKARTA (JP): It's not always easy to find great cheese in
Indonesia. The annual Cheese Festival at Le Meridien Hotel, is
therefore a popular event. By the number of people who attended
the launch party of this year's festival, held from the June 6 to
June 14, looks as if it will be no exception.

This is the fifth time the hotel has hosted the event and the
third time that this year's festival Cheese Master, Claude
Lauxerrois, has brought cheeses to Jakarta.

The 30 cheeses which Lauxerrois is presenting were chosen
according to season, his own taste and experience of local taste
from previous festivals.

Cheeses available here are not as strong as they might be.
Lauxerrois admits that due to Jakarta's lack of exposure to
strong cheeses, he has toned down the smell, flavor and even
coloring of his selection this year.

Nonetheless, many of them give off a heady aroma and some are
still extremely pungent to taste or leave a strong aftertaste.
According to Le Meridien general manager Jean-Louis Ripoche, most
cheeses we buy from the shops are, by legal necessity,
pasteurized. However, he said: "You say pasteurized to a World
Cheese Master and he turns blue" because the process kills much
of the bacteria that are necessary to produce flavor.

Brice Borin, executive chef at Le Meridien says, "These
special cheeses are only fit to be eaten within a short period of
time, perhaps four weeks. It takes a master who understands the
complete process of cheese making -- fermentation, bacteria
growth etc., -- to tell by touch, smell or taste what the right
time is", especially when the cheeses then have to be packed up
and carted halfway around the world before they are eaten.

Lauxerrois, who is one of the top ten Cheese Masters in the
world, said that this year's festival will be different from last
year's because there are now spring cheeses (for example,
Vacherin, Comte and Emmenthal) which are prepared in different
conditions to the autumn cheeses which were available last year
(the 1999 event was held in October).

The selection is available at La Brasserie, which is open from
11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. for
dinner. A full buffet lunch, including cheese, costs Rp 99,000,
or if you like you can just have the cheese at Rp 75,000.

Dining is accompanied by the affable strains of organ grinder,
Gilles Butin's, traditional French street music.

And so to the main attraction.

The cheeses are grouped according to family and there is a
wide variety to suit every taste.

There are the blue cheeses, the excellent Roquefort, for
example. This is the most expensive cheese on the list because,
like any real Roquefort, it is made only from sheep's milk which
you get less of per animal than from cows or goats.

There are several smelly goat's cheeses, for example Chavignol
and St. Maure which is rolled in ash for extra smell and flavor.
The wood used for the ash is a secret (as indicated by the Cheese
Master tapping the end of his proud Gallic nose).

There are two brash and coarsely-textured Corsican cheeses
(also rolled in ash and in herbs) as perhaps befits the products
of Napoleon's birthplace.

For the more delicate palate, there are some delicious creamy
cheeses such as Pont L'Eveque, Livarot and (Butin's favorite)
Chaource.

Then, of course, there are traditional and much-copied
favorites like Brie and Camembert.

A unique cheese, favored by Borin, is the Epoisses from
Burgundy. This is left to soak in a few drops of local white
grape liquer giving the crust a particular flavor. The inside is
very soft, however, and has such a delicate texture that it will
start to run after only a few hours out of the box in a warm
room, so be quick.

There are also the harder cheeses such as Emmenthal and Comte.
These cheeses are full of flavor, but watch out as they can leave
a powerful aftertaste.

It is a pity that, having been asked to come all the way from
Europe to present 30 cheeses, Lauxerrois should not bring some
samples from other countries apart from France. You could be
forgiven for arriving at a cheese festival expecting to sample a
lovely mature Cheddar or an Italian dolcelatte.

Certainly, the French theme, especially the music, adds fun
and color to the event, but perhaps Le Meridien could include an
international section next year.

Borin replies: "Because we are a French hotel, we promote
that. Besides the French are always very pro-French, if you go to
a regional restaurant you only get cheese and wine from that
area."

This minor detail aside, the selection here is a cheese
lover's delight. Why not finish your sampling with the Cheese
Master's own favorite, the Brie Coulomiers (not surprisingly,
it's from his region), washed down with a delicious, light
Bordeaux from the Brasserie list?