COW - Cheese of the World

COW's original shop, on Boulevard Saint-Germain in the 5th. Raw milk from Domaine de la Charlotterie arrives Wednesdays and is sold in store only

The original COW, on the Left Bank

This is where COW started. Antoine came back to Paris from Aarhus, Denmark, convinced that the northern European cheeses he had tasted there had no home in the city, and opened the first shop with Pascal, a former cheesemonger. Alexandre, a trained artisan cheesemaker, later joined to run the affinage, and Thomas came on to handle events and workshops. The Saint-Germain counter is still the reference point for the others.

Find it at 30 Bd Saint-Germain, 75005, a short walk from Maubert Mutualité. Open Monday 3:30pm to 8pm, Tuesday to Friday 10am to 1:30pm and 3:30pm to 8pm, and Saturday 10am to 8pm.

Fresh dairy comes from Domaine de la Charlotterie in Seine-et-Marne (77), a farm under 50 km from Paris. Raw milk is sold by the litre in a returnable glass bottle (bouteille consignée), delivered Wednesdays after the morning milking with four days of shelf life. The same farm supplies faisselle, fromage blanc and skyr in 1 kg tubs. All of it is sold in store only ("vendu uniquement en boutique"), so none of it appears on the COW online shop or their Epicery delivery.

Around 60 cheeses rotate through the counter at any time, drawn from a dozen countries including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the United States. Raw milk cheese is the backbone of the selection. Guided tastings, cheese-making workshops and custom platters are booked through the shop.

COW also has shops in Batignolles (17e) and on avenue Daumesnil (12e).