Why is cheese such a big deal?

As the French protect a precious gastronomic cultural heritage, picking your favourite cheese is all about sampling and tasting authenticity.

There's more to cheese than Brie and Camembert. No one knows this better than Francois Robin, our gregariously entertaining guide during a recent educational cheese trip through France.
Robin is Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (one of the finest craftsmen in France, ie), an exclusive title given to culinary experts in their respective fields, one of only 22 people in the entire country. "Something like an Olympic medal you get to keep for life," he says.
So why is cheese such a big deal here? Strangely, it originated as 'peasant food' in medieval times, when meat was a luxury, but people could curdle, treat and store milk to make this product that would keep for a long time, providing vital sustenance during the harsh winter. But as French cheeses became popular in the modern era, too many people started staking claim to the good stuff and making poor or inauthentic varieties around the world.
That's where the European Union's PDO (Protected Designation of Origin, and the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée or AOC in France) stepped in to protect this precious gastronomic cultural heritage.
"Any French cheese is the result of a unique interaction between the environment, animals and human farming practices; that means a cheese originating from a particular area in France could only ever have been made in that place," Robin points out.
"And, you know, we French are a little bit proud of ourselves," he laughs. "We want to preserve our legacies." The result is the most incredible variety of cheeses in the world - big, small, hard, creamy, smelly, mild, white, blue and gold.
As we can bear witness, the effort the French are putting in to preserve this culinary heritage is not only impressive but is also paving the way for the rest of the world to enjoy authentic, traditional French cheese. 
Only the French way
Today, even the way we normally eat at any restaurant - starter, main course, dessert - is originally the French gastronomical meal and declared by UNESCO to be a part of the country's Intangible Cultural Heritage. So they have the right idea in wanting to stake their claims in the cheese domain as well.
So the PDO decides that a cheese 'belongs' to a particular area, must be made of milk from a particular animal breed - cow, goat or sheep - reared during a certain season and on a particular diet, and that it must be made using specific procedures, and so on. What it does is create a genuine link between the cheese product and its environment, preventing the "bad kind of globalisation," in Robin's words.
Out of 56 legally recognised French cheeses, most are AOC protected.
Touring the French countryside in Autumn and tasting surprising variations every day, it's hard to pick out favourites.
There's the Comte, the hard buttery cheese from the Jura mountains (some of which are aged in magnificent military forts used during the two World Wars), which are full of complex texture and a layered, lingering taste.
Epoisses cheese is from Burgundy, known for its beautiful landscapes and which is where Dijon, the town where all your pots of mustard originate from, is located. This is a strong (read: stinky) cheese that comes in wooden boxes, best enjoyed with local beverages or pain au levant - simple yeast bread.
Coming back to Camembert, from the Normandy region, it's not hard to see why the world loves this white, soft textured and creamy pie-like cheese.
Our little group went gaga over the Mont d'Or, a seasonal, Christmas-time favourite, which is super creamy and very easy to eat. Scooping it up with spoons, we could taste the mildly wooden flavour, from the spruce box. The locals love to melt it and pour it over boiled potatoes for an indulgently warm and comforting dish.
The Picodon goat cheese from the Rhone-Alpes region has a mushroomy smell, picante flavour and is meticulously hand-salted.
The old favourite, Roquefort blue cheese, a Midi-Pyrenees 'native', is also famously pungent. The lower-profile but elegant Saint-Nectaire from the Auvergne region has a wonderful ripening - affinage - process, ending up deliciously creamy.
Out here in the UAE, you can get your own piece of France with PDO cheeses available at Carrefour, Waitrose and at specialty shops Jones the Grocer and Galeries Lafayette Dubai Mall. So look out for the label.
There are no hard and fast rules - or any supposed sophistication - to cheese selection or tasting, Robin insists.
So, what should you keep in mind? Most of the time, the cheeses taste much milder than they smell, so don't be put off. "Also, there's no rind police. You won't be arrested," Robin laughs, cracking another cheesy joke. With almost all cheese, you may choose to eat the rind, or not; it's an entirely personal choice.
It's also the perfect non-formal food to entertain your friends with. Says Robin, "In France, if you invite people to share a cheese tray, that means you're friends."
And oh, after facing a bit of a travel and cheese withdrawal post-France, I did head to the supermarket for my favourite: the Mont d'Or. 
(The writer was part of a culinary education tour on cheeses from France, courtesy of the Sopexa Group, Cniel and the European Union.)

• Food and Dining