Boulette d'Avesnes

La boulette is historically manufactured near Belgium (the name comes from the town of Avesnes-sur-Helpe, in France), but the cheese is not protected by a Denomination of Origin.

At the time when farmers made their butter, the boulette came mainly from whey (buttermilk). Then gradually cheeses were made with pieces of fresh maroilles, broken when demolding or "injured during handling".
To these pieces are added pepper, tarragon and parsley.
(The maroilles cheeses made from raw milk are of course more aromatic. And even more so if they are of farm origin, "fermier").
The conical shape is made by hand.
Refining lasts 2 to 3 months, with salt water washes, but some do it with beer. (On the other side of the border, the Blue Chimay beer is produced. It can be a good pairing as well).

The dough is colored with annatto and paprika.
In the past, cheese was not colored. It was dried in the attic (where the spiders were also). But to make it more appetizing, and for health reasons, paprika or annatto have now become almost systematic.
The picture shows an example of each.

On the nose, tarragon comes first. (The smell is very strong. In the refrigerator, keep the cheese in a well closed box).
On the palate, the flavor is strong and peppery.

Serve at room temperature (remove from fridge 30 min before) and not dry (keep thes packaging, or top with a humid cloth till last moment).
Propose a cheese knife with a very thin blade.
If the cheese plate contains several full cheeses, host should start first (some gustes are always shy to begin a cheese).
Cut in vertical slices.
Alternate the side of the slices to make sure that one side will not dry too much if the cheese is not finished during this meal.
Traditionally cheese was never passed a 2nd time (only dish not prepared by the host), but if the host took specially care of the selection, guests should honor it.
Everything can be eaten