Carpentras has become one of my destinations in Provence.  It is home to one of my favorite restaurants, Chez Serge, to one of my favorite patisseries, Patisserie Jouvaud, AND to the best cheese shop in all of Provence, La Fromagerie du Comtat.  This gorgeous shop is owned and operated by Master Fromager Affineur, Claudine Vigier. 

Claudine is extremely knowledgeable about cheese and is so friendly and nice.  She is always happy to help me choose an assortment of cow’s milk, goat’s milk and sheep’s milk cheeses that are at the perfect stage of ripeness for my events.  Not only does Claudine sell an incredible variety of cheeses from France and other areas, but she is also an affineur, or ager, of cheeses.  Claudine buys cheeses that are very young and then ages them until they are at the perfect stage of ripeness.  Claudine adds her own touches, too – sometimes adding peppercorns or lavender to the goat cheeses to give them a particular flavor. 

Claudine is also quite famous in France for inventing the professional cheese knife, designed with non-professionals in mind, as well.  This knife was created by Forge de Laguiole, a top name in professional knives in France.  The knife is designed to give cheeses a nice, even cut without the cheese sticking to the knife.  The knife has a beautiful olive wood handle and is sturdy enough to cut all types of cheese.   

La Fromagerie du Comtat is located at 23 place de la Mairie 84200 – CARPENTRAS. Tél : 04 90 60 00 17

This patisserie in the town of Carpentras in Provence is a fantastic discovery.  On my last trip, I had the pleasure to meet Pierre Jouvaud who is actively involved in managing this third-generation business. 

The patisserie itself is warm, colorful and inviting.  The windows are beautifully decorated and draw you in with their magnificent variety of pastries and confections.  Once inside, the aromas are seductive.   The chocolates (my favorites are the ones with the nuts and candied fruits) are some of the best I have ever tasted, and I can’t wait to go back to try their canelle dipped in clementine syrup. 

The real thrill for me, though, was being taken behind the scenes to see how the glaced fruit is made.  It is created using the traditions of Pierre Jouvaud’s grandfather.  Fresh, ripe fruit is cooked slowly at low temperatures in big copper pots in sugar syrup.  The fruit is then re-cooked several times in a similar manner.  The resulting product is full of ripe fruit flavor and has a soft, yet firm, consistency.  It is truly an art to be able to make such a gorgeous and flavorful product.  We tasted the apricots and they were over-the-top amazing. 

One other observation that I made was that the packaging for the candies and gift items was absolutely beautiful.  Pierre gave the credit for that to his sister.  What lovely and tasty gifts their creations make!  I brought home several boxes for family and friends.  Everyone was delighted with the flavors and the presentation. 

Patisserie Jouvard
40 rue de l’Eveche
84800 Carpentras, FRANCE
33 04 90 63 15 38