Cheesemonger's Tour de France & Amuse Bouche: A Cheese Pairing
Tuesday 8th October
Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath, York Street, Bath, Somerset BA1 1NG
6.30pm
7pm
An Evening of Storytelling and French Cheese & Wine: A Cheesemonger's Guide to France & Amuse Bouche.
This evening Ned and Carolyn will talk you through a French Cheese & Wine Tasting with stories of France's most fascinating foods and ingredients.
Cheese Historian, 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. His award winning books are A Cheesemonger's History of the British Isles and A Cheesemonger's Compendium of British & Irish Cheese
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 Comte 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. 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.
'Palmer writes with pace and passion, and his encounters with modern-day practitioners fizz with infectious delight ... Full of flavour.' Sunday Times
Carolyn Boyd is an award-winning British travel and food writer who specialises in France, writing for The Times, The Guardian, National Geographic Traveller, and BBC Good Food. She is the author of From the Source: France. Carolyn is also Communications Manager of the Roux Scholarship, the world's most prestigious chef competition.
Amuse Bouche is a book to be devoured: a beautifully illustrated, joyous celebration of French food, and a charming, practical guide to inspire your own travels - whether you're a proud Francophile or don't know your ficelle from your flute. This is a book that will make you fall in love with France all over again or make you plan a trip as soon as possible.
'A perfect balance of history, food, anecdotes and recommendations ... Carolyn's enthusiasm and passion for French gastronomy is legendary' Michel Roux Jr
'Carolyn Boyd serves a great feast of a French adventure, and the sweet smell of warm croissants is never far away. Amuse Bouche is wondrous, witty, delicious and fun. Every page made me hungry - so take my advice and pack your napkin!' Raymond Blanc
'Witty, wild and wonderful ... a delicious dance round the glories of France at table region by region with an Englishwoman abroad who understands the happiness of cervelle de Canut and tartiflette' Elisabeth Luard,