Sheep Polypore. A variety of mushroom with a whitish often circular cap, white on the underside, and a white central stalk; found under conifers. Listed as edible but not popular.
A soft cheese made with cow's milk with an ivory paste and a white rind. It is made in the Canton of Valais. This cheese is used to make (la) raclette and is made with pasteurised milk The curds are uncooked and pressed. Versions are also made in France in the Auvergne, Savoy, Franche-Comté and Brittany.
Le Saulxurois is a mild, salty, soft, square cow’s milk artisan cheese with a moist, reddish brine-washed rind. It is of the Carré de l’Est family. It sometimes has a white bloom. It is made on farms around Saulxures, near Bassigny in the Champagne region. The curds are uncooked and unpressed and it contains 45% milk-fat. It may be found in the following dimensions: 8 to 9 cm ( 3½") square x 2.5 cm (1") deep, weighing 200 g (7 oz).
A drum or cylinder of supple to semisoft blue cheese made with cow's milk, similar to Bleu d'Auvergne. It has a lightly-veined, moist, ivory paste and a natural rind. Cheese made in winter has a whiter paste. It is made industrially and on dairies from the raw milk of cows pastured on the chalk plateau of Causses in Rouergue, which imparts a distinctive pungent flavour. This cheese is eaten all year round and contains 45% fat. The curds are uncooked and unpressed. It may be found in the following dimensions: 20 cm (8") diameter x 8-10 cm (4") deep, weighing 2.3-3 kg (5-7 lb). Affinage is usually 70 days to 6 months. It is cured in cellars similar to those used in making Roquefort. (AOC).
Claires are special pens or enclosures where oysters are fattened in salt marshes in Marennes in Poitou-Charentes. With the Spring tides the estuarine waters flood into the pens and then recede. The water left behind becomes rich in blue-green algae which gives a slightly greenish tinge to the oysters grown threre. The resulting oysters, themselves called Claires, are considered a delicacy.
