La crème de la crème

You know Fromager d’Affinois as the most decadent cheese on the board. But have you heard its origin story?

PLACE : Rhône Alpes, a green and mountainous region in southest France.

TIME : The early 80s. Passionate cheese-lover Jean Claude Guilloteau and his wife retreat to a farmhouse to experiment on a new approach to cheese, combining the dairying tradition of their picturesque region with his desire for disruption. Through an innovative method, he pioneers a luscious and velvety cheese naturally richer in proteins and minerals. It sends taste-buds reeling.

Rivals clamour for his secrets; connoisseurs’ clamour for the cheese itself. He calls it Pavé Dauphinois, after the Dauphiné area of its creation and the cobblestones (”pavés”) that line the quaint street of Lyon- the epicentre of French cuisine. To accommodate the skyrocketing demand, he opens a dairy in the preserved terroir of the Massif du Pilat regional park, next to the Rhône river, and another nestled in the foothills of the Alps soon afterward. Guilloteau knows he has crafted a cheese to captivate all of France … but what about the rest of the world? With his new Fromager d’Affinois (Pronounced Fro-maj-ay Daff-eenwah) – a pun on affinage, the process of cheese ripening – he vows to find out.