Normandy is rightly famed for its cheeses, and the town of Pont l’Eveque celebrates its eponymous cheese with a Cheese Festival (Fete du Fromage) 18 – 21 May 2023.
Over three days the town celebrates the marriage of cheese and wine with over 1o exhibitors from all over France, with parades, ceremonies, market stalls and a competition for the best cheese.
Pont l’Eveque cheese is one of the oldest Normandy cheeses still in production. Three pints of cows’ milk is needed to produce a cheese, a square typically weighing 350g, creamy, finely textured and smooth.
Pont l’Eveque (14 Calvados, Normandie) is a few miles south of Deauville, just off the A13 autoroute.
It is believed Pont-l’Évêque was created by Cistercian monks in the 12th century. It is only in the 18th century that the name Pont-l’Évêque, from the town located between Lisieux and Deauville was first used. It is sold there on markets. It also took its square shape at that time, especially in order to make the difference with Livarot.
In the 20th century, the collection of milk and its transformation were modernized. Breeders, who found a new outlet for milk, tended to give up the production of cheese. Handcraft production, created the century before, started thriving and growing continuously.
