"Bringing cheese everywhere, especially where it is least expected."

How did you become a cheesemonger?

It's a long story... It starts quite simply: my parents were dairy farmers in Seine-et-Marne. So I'm a bit like Obelix: I fell into a pot of milk when I was little! That's the first step: my taste for cheese and dairy products was passed on to me by my farmer parents. After that, school was very difficult, I wasn't made for it, and I had to think about my career path very quickly. Since I love eating, I wanted to go into cooking! But at 14, I did an internship with friends of my parents and was put off the profession in three days... Then, in my third year of high school, I found myself with a summer job at the dairy where my parents supplied milk for cheese making. That’s where I had the encounter of my cheese-making life. I saw people passionate about making cheese, even though, it must be said, the working conditions are quite tough. In a dairy, it's 34 to 36 degrees, very humid, and when you age the cheese, it's often very cold. It's very difficult, but it's fascinating and you never stop learning! Thirty years later, I continue to go, day after day, to the school of cheese...

In 2007, you became a "Meilleur Ouvrier de France". How did that change your life?

It may seem strange, but initially, I didn't go for the title but to relearn my trade after ten years of practicing, which led me to think I had reached my level of incompetence. So, with the agreement of Lactalis, my employer at the time and my best sponsor, I prepared for the competition... and I won! And to be honest, afterward, my only fear was changing. It took me almost two years to dare to wear a MOF jacket! But it's not easy: when you're a Meilleur Ouvrier de France, you carry something, you change in the eyes of people. Now, with over 15 years of hindsight and some analysis on this, I would say, to quote a great chef: "you don't become a MOF, you grow into one." Today, my mission is mainly to spread the good word around the world and to be a bit of a custodian of this cheese-making know-how, and it's true that the MOF collar gives much more credibility to do so. That's how it is: when you wear the collar, at least you're taken seriously...

With other finalists of the 2007 competition, you created the League of Extraordinary Cheesemongers. What does it involve?

In 2007, the competition bonded a group of rather mischievous, quite loud, but also quite brilliant cheesemongers. The strength of this 2007 cohort is that we always enjoy getting together and doing things together, even though we are all very different. This ties in a bit with the movement I call "fromaginaire," which aims to take cheese beyond its limits. But be careful: it is not a closed brotherhood! We are open to anyone who wants to join and, most importantly, bring something fun and interesting. This is all the more important as cheese is often the poor relation of French gastronomy.

Can you give an example of an action by the League to change this perspective?

For instance, one of our greatest achievements is the Cheese Fashion Week, launched during Paris Fashion Week. We took over rue Boissy d'Anglas for an entire Sunday and created a fashion show around cheese. We transformed cheese into fashion accessories, lipsticks, high heels, handbags, and perfume bottles. That's what’s interesting: taking cheese everywhere, especially where it is least expected. I like to transpose cheese into all universes, whether it’s wine, luxury, sports, or anywhere else.