12/10/2022
By the time Marie Quatrehomme was developing her tower of cheese, she had already undergone a litany of tests on cheese culture, technology and terroir for the competition. She had wowed jurors in blind tastings and fielded questions on French cheese appellations, which now number 46, each governed by a strict charter regulating everything from regional provenance down to animal breed. She was grilled on cheese legislation and interrogated on the economics of building a cheese buffet – all in the pursuit of recognition, not just from her peers, but from the French nation at large.
