Fromage frais

Fromage frais is a dairy product of French and Belgian origin. It differs from fromage blanc according to French law:

"The denomination fromage frais is reserved for unripened cheese that underwent a mostly lactic fermentation. Fermented white cheese marketed under the terms fresh or fresh cheese must contain live flora at the time of sale to the consumer".

So fromage frais contains live cultures when sold, whereas in fromage blanc the fermentation has been stopped.

Fromage frais is a creamy soft cheese. It is made with whole or skimmed milk and cream. It is like cream cheese, but with less fat (fewer calories and less cholesterol). When people need fromage frais but cannot get it, they can use low fat cream cheese. Pure fromage frais has very little fat. Cream is often added to make it taste better. This adds more fat. 8% of the weight of fromage frais with cream can be fat.

There are two ways to serve fromage frais. It can be served as a dessert similar to yogurt, often with added fruit. It can be used in savory dishes. In restaurants it is often served with honey. Restaurants call this fromage blanc au miel.

Other websites

• What is fromage frais (with or without fat?)