Every year, the village of Rocamadour hosts the largest cheese festival in the south of France. Rocamadour is located in the southwest, just north of the city of Toulouse.
The festival will feature cheeses made by 40 producers from 15 regions in the south (15 producers of goat cheese, 15 producers of cheese made with sheep milk and 10 producers that make cheese from cow milk) and you’ll be able to sample and purchase pungent (ok, smelly, gooey, runny) cheeses from the open market (Saturday from 3pm to 7pm and Sunday from 10am to7pm). Just kidding, not all French cheeses stink – or run. The festival is a step back in time to more basic French traditions, and a perfect getaway from city chaos and polllution. In addition to the cheese market, there’ll be a cheese competition, bbq, music and a dinner and dance with a “band” called Les Milandes. They say dinner is a, Menu Querçynois, which means regional fare from Le Quercy, and that smells like beans, probably in the form of cassoulet. (I’m not sure about this, however.) Actually, the dinner thing sounds like it’s for the older (much older) local crowd but if you’re adventurous, knock yourself out. It could be fun. Dinner begins at 8:30pm and costs 23 € (8 € for under 12 years); local wine (vin de Cahors) and coffee is included in the price. Between 4pm and 5pm on Saturday, a herd of goats will be moved from the valley to Causse, so that might be Little House on the Prairie moment with lots of photo ops. This particular area’s regional specialities include goat cheeses, fois gras, pâtés truffés (truffle pâté), confits et magrets of duck and goose, roquefort cheese and lamb. Visit the local farms to grab some regional food while exploring the surrounding countryside because most of the farms sell directly to the public. While you’re in Rocamadour, you might want to check out their famous grottes (caves). [Click here for more information on the caves of Rocamadour] XVIIème Fête des Fromages / 17th Festival of the Cheeses For more information: Rocamadour (in French) |
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I am like…SO WEEPING. The cheese, omg, why can’t be in France when there’s events going on? Have you any idea how nuts this is making me? A friend of mine gave me his gift of french cheeses from a lady on Maui that’s trying to do “cheese parties” to educate discriminating palates. He couldn’t handle the strong taste (and smell). Kraft slices are more his style. 
don’t cry, rowena! most cheeses aren’t going anywhere (however, some are disappearing, sadly, because of new regulations and the use of unpasterized milk) but come on down! you can usually find cheese shops where ever you go in France. cheese parties sound fun in fact now i want to throw one for the growing number of english people in burgundy, to give them a taste of cheeses other than cheddar, which they buy by the wheel. there are SO MANY cheeses here! some are not what you’d expect them to be, either, for example, the cheese “port salut” is a little bit stinky but the cheese is very mild in flavor. then, there ARE other cheeses i think should be used as sniffing salts (to revive people) 
please send information on the Rocamadour grottes caves in english. Thank you Karen
Steinbeck Travel
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Comment by ptinfrance 07.26.06 @ 12:27 amCould you please give me any information where in the Rocamadour France area there are classes or courses in making french goats cheese. I live in france in the dordogne and i am British and have 4 milking goats but i cannot make good goats chees and i would love to learn to make the type of cheese offered in Rocamadour thank you pattie thorne
Comment by Patricia Thorne 01.13.07 @ 8:16 amhi patti, sounds like you’re very close to rocamadour. a lot closer than i am in burgundy. i have no idea about cheese courses specifically for goat cheese making but i have a suggestion: go to a goat cheese farm in your area and ask them if either they’d teach you how they make cheese or ask if you could observe them working. otherwise, you can probably find some literature on goat cheese making online or in local bookstores. good luck!
Comment by ptinfrance 01.13.07 @ 9:52 amI really love goat cheese desserts, their are awesome. If I have guests, I just make goat cheese deserts and they love it. Are there any other good uses for goat cheese?
Comment by ziegen kaufen 04.02.10 @ 5:07 amLeave a comment
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