My husband and I spent a memorable few weeks on Corsica several years ago, and I fell hard for the island and its cheeses. For good reason, it’s known (in translation) as both the Isle of Beauty and the Island of Shepherds. But when I tried to find similar Corsican cheeses at home, I largely struck out. I might occasionally score some Fleur du Maquis—a lovely creation, although Corsicans don’t eat it—but the rest of the island’s production was nowhere to be found. Until now.
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My husband and I spent three weeks in Corsica a few years ago (do it!), and our visit happened to coincide with a two-day cheese fair celebating the island’s shepherds. We ate a lot of rustic and wonderful sheep cheese and I met at length with Catherine Le Beschu, then the director of an organization that was trying to protect these vanishing cheeses. She told me, to my surprise, that Corsicans don’t eat the herb-coated sheep cheese that is the island’s most famous export. Fleur du Maquis (pictured above) and Brin d’Amour—so similar they’re often mistaken for each other—are insanely delicious so I don’t get why Corsicans disdain them.
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