Nov
14
Cheese Myths and Legends: Valençay
The truncated pyramid shape of the Loire Valley chèvre Valençay is mythologized as follows: Napoleon visited the statesman Talleyrand at his estate, the Château de Valençay, and tried the local goat cheese, made in the shape of a four-sided pyramid. Somebody, perhaps the emperor himself, using his ever-present sword – chopped off the top of the edifice in recognition of what a hard time his armies had fighting in Egypt. The cheese is still made in the same truncated-pyramid shape, and no doubt the genuine raw-milk AOC versions taste the same as the one Napoleon ate with Talleyrand.
– from Mastering Cheese, by Max McCalman and David Gibbons
