6 Comments so far

1. cerbere1564

   I’d say Camembert, Roquefort, Brie and Cantal

2. WISE OWL

   Emmental is actually Swiss, and called after a Swiss region, not a French one.

   Camembert
   Brie
   Roquefort

   French Gruyère (that has the same name as a Swiss cheese) is different in that it has holes in it. It is widely used in cooking.
   I would say “Bleu d’Auvergne” is as well known as Cantal (which has several varieties bearing different names).

3. Sophie

   Yes. The guy who had written Emmental removed his answer.
   As an aside: you would be hard put to choose the fourth cheese because there are so many that would qualify. I would say that there are many contenders from regional cheeses but they are well known everywhere in France, even though they may be less known in other countries.
   It is also true that French Gruyère is used in large quantities in cooking all over France, as well as grated over various dishes, or sliced in sandwiches.
   However there are hundreds of soft goat cheeses (fromages de chèvre) sold under a variety of labels which are eaten in vast quantities and would globally qualify too.

   A soft cow cheese that has reached international fame because it has been given a lot of publicity in many countries with cute little films on television is “Boursin” with the slogan “Du pain, du vin, du Boursin”. People may not have eaten it but they know about it , have heard of it, and it is famous because of the publicity it has been given in various countries.
   There is a difference between “famous” and “popular”. Brie is certainly the one that is most copied abroad.

4. zafir

   In addition to Camembert, Brie, and Roquefort, I would add Chevre.

5. Jean-Michel

   Some of our favorites are Fourme d’Ambert (a wonderful blue cheese from the Auvergne region), Époisses, (an unpasturized cheese from the Bourgogne region), Livarot (A small pungent cheese wrapped in rushes from Normandie) and Morbier (a strong, rich and creamy,semi-soft cheese from Franche-Comté)

6. Madame de Ségur

   Sophie is right and in statistics Boursin is the fourth officially most popular cheese.

   Here is the list ot the top ten in order of popularity:
   1.Camembert (AOC)
   2.Brie de Meaux (AOC)
   3.Roquefort (AOC)
   4.Boursin
   5.Reblochon (AOC)
   6.Munster (AOC)
   7.Pont l’Evèque (AOC)
   8.Époisses (AOC)
   9.Chèvre
   10.Tomme de Savoie (AOC)
   AOC = protected by the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée