Fromage de Clon is yet another triumph of French dedication to revitalizing its past and those dusty old drawers that seem to contain great-great-grandmere’s ancient secrets. [Brief aside: I wish I had a magic French drawer that hid, say, a 16th Century recipe for a nun-made sugar cookie beloved by Louis XIV or a unique lace pattern once limited to royalty only . . . I suppose the first step is to go find some French drawers.]
Returing to our muttons, the point is that Clon has been around since at least the 13th Century (in French terms, about 3 months ago or so.) It came from eastern France near Burgundy. Dukes of Savoy (sometimes French, sometimes Italian), royalty, and even the Vatican were privileged to eat it. Like peppercorns and white falcons, it was even paid as rent. Then it disappeared around the time of the French Revolution. Enter the magic French drawer: in this case a “dusty box” that historian Jerome Dupasquier found in Bourg-en-Bresse. He realized what he had and went searching for someone to actually make it. He found two artisanal cheese producers, Bernadette and Christian Perrigot, who gave it a go, since the big cheese makers gave it a pass. Their dairy is located in Drom and follows extremely traditional pasturing and practices, so the cheese is made authentically.
What makes Clon so special? Saffron! The sweet, nutty cheese is perfumed with saffron, those lovely glowing threads from the heart of a crocus that everyone says are worth their weight in gold. They’re not by the way: Spanish saffon threads sell for about $95/oz, while gold is currently at $866.51/oz. However, it takes 13,125 threads (more or less) to make that ounce and each crocus only produces three.
For the adventurous, Clon is available at http://www.formaggiokitchen.com or call the Perrigots directly at 011-33-4-74-30-65-46. Better yet, go to France and experience Clon at home.