Alternative Cheeses to Help You Survive the Cheese Ban

If you are European, and you like delicious things, you will surely have heard the latest disaster to befall imported foreign produce, certain soft cheeses like Brie and Camembert have been banned from being imported to mainland China. I went to speak to Marina from Fromaggeria and Marc from La Maison Traiteur to get the latest news on the cheese ban and see if there are any ways around it.

The guys in La Maison Traiteur were not in a good way and seemed pretty depressed about the whole ban fiasco. A third of their revenue is made from the sale of cheese, half of which are now banned from being imported. They still have some stock of soft cheeses remaining, so I would rush there with your shopping baskets ASAP because once it’s gone... it’s really gone.

With the loss of soft cheeses they are now looking to diversify their business. They already sell amazing salami, smoked fish and great pates, this is something they are going to focus on even more now.

They're still stocking hard cheeses, mainly imported from the UK, and some Italian cheeses, so it’s not all over and in terms of putting together a beautiful cheese board. You cannot go wrong with English cheeses, white Stilton with apricots and Wensleydale add a splash of colour to what can be a rather pasty affair.

Marina had slightly better news, whilst the ban of Gorgonzola 8 months ago has not been great, the majority of her imports are not going to be affected by the ban. She sells Italian cheeses mainly imported products with a few Italian-style cheeses produced in China.

Marina doesn’t sell any soft cheeses that rival Brie, but she does have some really great semi-hard cheeses that are completely delicious including Verena, Pasta Filata, Asiago, Latteria and Provolone. The best thing about her shop is that everything is available to taste. So go and taste it, I mean why not??

If you are looking for an alternative to baked Camembert or Brie to serve as a starter then why not take a sharp left turn and serve Barata instead? Equally (if not more) impressive and completely delicious served with a little olive oil, fresh pepper and nice bread! 

Available at La Maison Traiteur and Fromageria.

Brie might be banned but the world is not ending, just the world as we know it.

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