How winning cheese 'Olympics' helped Rodolphe Le Meunier go global
The French cheesemonger, who was in Hong Kong recently, tells Bernice Chan about expanding internationally, how he chooses his cheese and makes sure it is presented just right
"My paternal grandmother was a goat-cheese maker [in the Loire Valley, France] and I made cheese with her when I was five years old. When I was older I helped my father, who was a goat-cheese affineur ['cheese ager'], to package cheeses. And I'm an affineur of whatever cheeses I like."
"I pick cheese I'd like to eat for breakfast; I can only buy and sell cheese that I love. After that we figure out where I can sell the cheeses. If it is a fragile product, then it's just for the French market. We age the cheese accordingly so that it's just right for my customers. Triple cream cheeses don't travel well, whereas hard cheeses have already been dried so they're ready to go. It takes nearly 10 days to ship from my [cellar] to Hong Kong so we have to take this into consideration so that by the time it arrives here it's at the perfect time to eat. I have to taste the cheese wheel by wheel because some cheeses are made with milk from different producers, so they can vary."
"There are many parts to winning the contest [at the International Caseus Awards]. One is a written test, then a cutting test and then there's a blind tasting of five or six cheeses. Finally, there are displays you have to prepare, like a cheeseboard, for a buffet, and even cheese cooking.
"My first attempt was in 2004 and I lost, so for the next three years I prepared every day because I wanted to win the contest so badly. In my shop I would cut cheese for customers as if it was the competition. I focused as if I was training for the Olympics. It's an eight-hour contest so it's very intense. When I won [in 2007] and stood on the podium, they played La Marseillaise and I was very emotional.
"The same year I also won the Meilleur Ouvrier de France - the best artisan award - for cheese, a lifetime title given by the French government. That's why my chef's jacket can have a collar that has the colours of the French flag.
"The [Caseus] contest is held about every 3½ years. I lost the first time because the jury is more conservative and I did a presentation that was a bit too modern for them to accept. I was so angry when I lost. I was competing against people who were quite well known because it's a small circle."