L'Assiette de Fromages "Trois Laits"
(lah-syet duh froh-mahzh trwah lay)
Chapter 4 — The Cheese & Bread Course
Three milks: one cow, one goat, one sheep. The American French bistro cheese plate relies on the elegant restraint of the Trois Laits, anchoring the board with a chalky wedge of chèvre and a sharp, cave-aged Roquefort rather than a chaotic jumble of fifteen disparate wedges hiding behind towers of water crackers. To capture the true secret of this course, the reason it tastes like a long, wine-soaked lunch on Spring Street, the butterfat must soften until that first bite of weeping Camembert smeared across a torn, crusty half-baguette makes perfect sense; let the room do the work, meaning you must leave the cheese on the counter for a full hour at room temperature before eating.
Before you start
Remove all cheeses and the cultured butter from the refrigerator at least 90 minutes before serving.
Take them out of their wrapping, place them on your serving board with plenty of negative space, and let them sit at ambient room temperature so the butterfat can soften and release its aromatics.
Ingredients
- Sainte-Maure de Touraine or Valençay cheese5 oz
- Ossau-Iraty cheese5 oz
- high-quality Camembert or Brie8 oz
- baguette or country sourdough loaf1 med
- artisanal black cherry jam3 tbsp
- cultured French butter4 tbsp
- walnut halves1/2 cup
- mesclun mix or baby lettuces2 cup
- Champagne vinegar1 tbsp
- extra virgin olive oil3 tbsp
- Dijon mustard1/2 tsp
- fleur de sel1/4 tsp
- freshly cracked black pepper1/4 tsp
Method
- 01
Revive the bread if it is not freshly baked that morning.
Preheat the oven to 350°F, flick a few drops of water onto the crust, and bake directly on the rack for 5 minutes before serving.
- 02
Whisk the Dijon mustard and Champagne vinegar aggressively in a small bowl.
Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously until the mixture is thick and opaque, then season with the fleur de sel and black pepper.
- 03
Arrange the cheeses on the board in a clock-face geometry, ordered by intensity.
Place the goat cheese at 4 o'clock, the Ossau-Iraty at 8 o'clock, and the rich Camembert at 12 o'clock. Place a ramekin of black cherry jam next to the sheep's milk cheese and scatter the toasted walnuts in the negative space.
- 04
Toss the mesclun greens with just enough vinaigrette to barely coat them, serving in a small side bowl.
This highly acidic salad acts as a necessary palate cleanser between bites of high-fat cheese.
- 05
Provide a dedicated cheese knife for each wedge, ensuring guests cut from the center out to the rind.
Instruct your guests to start with the acidic goat cheese, move to the Ossau-Iraty paired with a dollop of jam, and finish with the weeping Camembert.
Notes
Leave the water crackers at the supermarket.
A proper French cheese plate relies strictly on high-quality, crusty bread to highlight the cheese. Biscuits and crackers compete with the texture and dilute the experience.
Do not substitute the black cherry jam.
Confiture de cerises noires is an essential Basque pairing for Ossau-Iraty; replacing it with honey or fig jam compromises the authenticity of the brasserie standard.