God's Feet

There is Camembert and there is Camembert. Or more precisely there is Camembert and Camembert de Normandie. The poet and gourmet Léon-Paul Fargue, writing in the first half of the 20th century referred to 'Camembert, the cheese that smells like God's feet'. He was doubtless referring to good artisanal farmhouse Camembert, as industrial Camembert often smells of nothing at all. 

Farmhouse Camembert that adheres to all the rules has to be 50% milk from Normande cows pastured in Normandy, unpasturised, made in Normandy (the départements of Orne, Manche, Calvados, Eure and Seine-Maritime), and created by carefully hand ladling the curd into the moulds to drain in four separate stages. To distinguish it from the ubiquitous industrial stuff, the artisanal cheese is called Camembert de Normandie and has an AOP. Some of the industrial producers where allowed to 'cheat' and label their product 'Fabriqué en Normandie' to fool consumers not paying attention, but this is no longer allowed.

Around 170 000 tonnes of Camembert is made in France, of which 100 000 tonnes comes from Normandy, and 10 000 tonnes is made from raw milk. It takes two litres of milk to make one Camembert cheese.

The cheese is named after a village in Orne, which is said to be where it was first made. The story goes that a priest from the Ile de France fleeing the Revolution was sheltered by a young dairymaid. To reward her he gave her the recipe for the Brie that his abbey made. In this new location, with different milk and different local fungi, Camembert was created. Camembert is made in much smaller rounds than Brie too. Brie is a cheese you buy triangles of, Camembert you buy whole. The downy white rind is a penicillin mutation, and has been favoured for commercial and aesthetic reasons. Customers are less attracted to the blotchy cheese that a standard penicillin would give.

To make the cheese the milk is semi-skimmed then innoculated. The gentle ladle by ladle filling of the moulds means that small air holes are present between the layers. This is a sign of quality. The moulds are allowed to drain for twenty hours then the cheeses are tipped out and coated with fungal spores and salt. They are left to mature for a minimum of 21 days.

The finished cheese will be a thick disk weighing 250 grams and with just 4% fat. The downy crust is lightly marked by the straw lined racks the cheese has been sitting on to ripen. The cheese should give a bit when pressed but should not run when cut (unlike Brie). Inside it should be pale yellow, sometimes with a white streak through the middle. Camembert is often sold too young, and as a consequence can have an unappealing flouriness.

It is sold in wooden boxes, an idea the producers adopted from Mont d'Or, which enabled the cheese to be shipped to the big city markets, especially Paris, on the train and arrive in perfect condition in the 19th century. As a consequence, Camembert has become ubiquitous in France.

It's good to eat all year round, although apparently real gourmets spurn Camembert made in the spring. Traditionally it is eaten with the famous reds of Bordeaux and Burgundy.

Bulbs in the Courtyard

Back in September last year we started cleaning up the front courtyard after a couple of years of neglect. The cobbled surface was weeded, as were a number of pots and planters, and we removed a frame which I had put in for a passionfruit to climb over.

Unfortunately, we were unable to sufficiently water the previous planting due to a continuing drought, which was very dispiriting. Everything except one very persistent tulip died.

However, I have dipped my toes into gardening again, and in November I planted some bulbs and added some compost.

I'm pleased with the results.

A New and Unnecessary Garden Bed

I am dismayed to see that part of the nature strip near the médiathèque has been dug up and planted with garden plants that, whilst certainly eye-catching, are rather ordinary. 

 

 Lovely pocket of wild bee and orchid friendly habitat on the left. Banal bed of primulas on the right.

This area, along with the public park containing the chapel and the space behind the médiathèque, is a veritable treasure trove of natural biodiversity! It is teeming with native plant species, fungi and wild pollinators nesting in the ground, perfectly adapted to this dry, gravelly and compacted soil. Some of these species are uncommon, others even rare, and at least one, although it thrives here, is globally threatened.

These green spaces, left to minimal management, contribute enormously to Preuilly’s environmental well-being. They do not contribute as much if they are disturbed by earthworks and alterations.

 

Autumn Lady's Tresses leaf rosette, low profile enough to be safe from the mower, but the flower spike never survives to set seed.

Do you think a nature-loving tourist will be more impressed by the four species of wild orchids they can see near the médiathèque, or by a few primula they could grow in their own garden at home?

But these areas are mowed far too often by the local council. Every year, I look forward to seeing certain specific species and I tell my friends to come and look, only to find the special plants have been mowed off in their prime the day before.

 

The offending flower bed, plonked right over the spot where the Ivy Bees and Sand Wasps nest.

I have written about these wonderful little wild spots on several occasions, and here is a link to give you an idea. 

 Further reading:

Biodiversity at the Bibliotheque https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2021/09/biodiversity-at-bibliotheque.html

 

I've emailed the town hall to express my disgruntlement, and the new mayor has responded saying she would be delighted to meet to discuss. So now I've emailed my retired ecologist friend who lives in town to see if he would be willing to accompany me to a meeting. I'd like to get the discussion extended to the cemetery too. It could certainly do with some 'greening'.

Smoky Polypore

Smoky Polypore Bjerkandera adusta (Fr. Polypore brûlé) is a grey-brown velvety bracket fungus with a white edge. The white underside has tiny pores, which become grey with age. 

 

Smoky Polypore brackets on a birch trunk that has snapped in the wind, in the Forest of Preuilly, February 2026.

It grows in crowded groups layered above and below one another, and overlapping, on stumps and trunks of dead or living trees, usually deciduous species, but sometimes conifers. 

 

Resupinate Smoky Polypore on a chestnut firewood log, February 2026.

It can be resupinate (with its back stuck to the wood like a scab and the fertile surface uppermost) or as brackets (with the fertile surface facing downwards and the mushrooms only attached by one edge). The resupinate versions can be more difficult to identify as there are a couple of other mushrooms that look similar. The brackets can be mistaken for the somewhat more abundant Turkey Tail Trametes versicolor.

Apero

 Apéro. It's a legendary part of the French lifestyle.

Want to feel embedded in la France Profonde ? Here's what you should be drinking at apéro in the late afternoon/early evening, before dinner...

If you are young it's easy. Beer. Doesn't matter what sort.

If you are, say, 50 or over, and middle class, Suze or Lillet is a good choice. Bitter orange flavour. To read my previous post about Lillet click on this link:   https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2023/09/lillet-makes-comeback.html

Pineau des Charentes covers all the bases, especially in the south west where it is made. Favoured by women, and is a bit like sherry. To read my previous post about Pineau des Charentes click on this link:   https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2012/01/pineau.html

Pastis is mainly drunk by older blokes. It's aniseed flavoured.

You could also choose half and half white wine and limonade known as a vin limé (note that limonade is not lemonade). Or a kir which is white wine with a dash of the blackcurrant liqueur called cassis. A kir royale is with sparkling wine and a kir cardinal is with red wine.

If like me you opt for alcohol free these days you can try some nice herbal non-alcoholic vermouth with tonic. Or for a more traditional drink, a diabolo. This is sparkling water with a fruit or herb flavoured syrup. The national favourite is mint (menthe). Everyone from old men to small children drink this. I go for strawberry. To read my previous post about Diabolos click on this link:  https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2023/02/diabolo.html

 

I'm a fan of citron pressé too (fresh lemon juice with sugar and water) but I rarely see it offered any more. It disappeared about a decade ago.

Scalewort

 

Scaleworts Frullania spp are a genus of lobed liverworts, also known as hepatics, which are sort of primitive mosses. They grow on rocks and smooth tree bark, feeding off the minerals which are brought by water flowing down their rock or tree trunk. The organism attaches itself to a substrate and forms a lacy disk. The tiny 2 mm square leaves fold back on themselves and look a bit like liver, hence the term hepatic. The presence of scalewort indicates an acid soil or substrate.

Scaleworts can cause allergies and they contain substances that can give dermatitis or contact eczema popularly known as 'maladie des bûcherons' (forester's disease). For the susceptible it results in very itchy patches where bare skin has touched the scalewort.

There are many species, all very difficult to tell apart. The ones in these photos might be Dilated Scalewort Frullania dilitata.