A civil servant on sabbatical has been crowned France's top cheesemonger.
The French may have scoffed at our cheeses for years, but Englishman Matthew Feroze has walked off with France’s top award for cheesemongers – the Concours National des Fromagers.
Matthew is living in France on a two-year unpaid sabbatical from his job in the Civil Service, where he’s pursuing a career in the artisanal cheese industry.
He beat off competition from 15 other cheesemongers to land the prestigious prize.
The competition
There were five tasks to complete including a blind tasting, cutting precise weights of cheese by sight and creating a cheese platter – a "seriously elaborate cheese platter" as Matthew describes it – of 25 cheeses.
His patriotic platter (pictured below) included English favourites Cheddar and Stilton.
As part of his training for the cheeseboard task, he’d spent a day under the tutelage of France’s champion cheese and vegetable sculptor cutting soap to get his cheese carving skills up to scratch.
Congratulations Matthew! If you like your French cheese or you’re visiting France this year, take a look at Matthew’s blog The Cheese And I, which has some great posts on buying cheese and different varieties.
Do you think British cheese is finally getting the recognition it deserves, or perhaps you've got a favourite British cheese you want to tell us about? Talk to us know in the comments below.
More on cheese
Six secrets to buying good cheese
British Cheese Award winners unveiled
The best biscuits to eat with cheese
Photos courtesy of Matthew Feroze