Originally Posted by
MarqFlyer
I'm with Efrem. I was tempted to bring some interesting cheeses back from a recent trip to France, but didn't get the chance to stop at the fromagerie. So I went to a couple of local places when I got back here to Minnesota, and sure enough was able to find a good many of the cheeses I had fallen in love with in France. They were always here, but now I knew what I was looking for. Ended up paying about 2x the price I'd have paid in Paris, but to me that's worth avoiding the risk of it going bad, or having difficulty at customs...not to mention having less to lug around. If I can find the stuff in Minnesota (some here in Rochester, some in Minneapolis), I have to believe you'd find it in Vancouver.
My advice: Enjoy the wonderful cheeses in France, and make notes about those that you really like. Then look and ask around at the nicer shops in Vancouver -- I'm betting you'll find more than you think when you know what to ask for.
I have to tell you now, while possibly branded the same, they aren't the same in many cases.
It varies by state and I do not know MN laws on this, however many of the cheeses in europe are raw milk cheeses and most states to not allow raw milk cheeses, so they will have been made from pasteurized milk which does impact the flavor and texture.
I am very fortunate to have a raw milk cheese shoppe and dairy farm near enough to me to buy here, but there are not many of these out there these days in the US. In TX they cannot have items at a grocery store, only a store on their own dairy, which really limits its spread. (and such a shame)
There are an abundance of myths about raw milk and raw cheese, most of them are very false. They are very safe to consume.
now what gets me is that it is so stinking hard to get fresh milk, raw or even pasteurized to Us levels, in parts of Europe. Parmalat seems to have people used to drinking that white liquid they call milk.....