A Cheesemonger’s Tour de France

A cheesemonger’s guide to the world of French cheese, complete with tasting notes and serving suggestions

Longlisted for the 2024 André Simon Awards In A Cheesemonger’s Tour de France, Ned Palmer wends his way around the country’s regions, meeting the remarkable cheesemongers who carry the torch for France’s oldest and most treasured traditions. Every French cheese carries an essence of the place where it’s made - its history, identity and landscape. Sometimes that’s a physical thing, as the hard texture of Comté echoes its mountainous home in the Jura. Other times it’s about power and politics - Brie swelling to royal dimensions due to its proximity to the French court, or Camembert gaining national status after being supplied in patriotic boxes to First World War soldiers. Witty, fascinating and endlessly moreish, A Cheesemonger’s Tour de France is the perfect guide to a French cheeseboard - and a terrific insight into la Belle République.

Ned Palmer runs the Cheese Tasting Company, whose unique events pair cheese with wines, beers, whiskies and history. After studying philosophy, theatre and experimental psychology, he worked as a jazz pianist and hospital porter, before helping out on a stall at Borough Market led him into a life of cheesemongering.