Riopelle: Butter on Butter on sunflower seed rye.
A pleasant surprise greeted me in the cheese drawer–there was just enough Riopelle left from Saturday’s cheese plate for a toast run. (Usually my husband sniffs out a crumb of Riopelle faster than a racoon hunting down a green bin.) I like this triple-creamer on a lean piece of toast that gets nice and crunchy so that the contrast of crisp and buttery are in perfect harmony.
As you lean against the counter and wait for the toast to pop you might nibble on some Riopelle thinking, “Mmmmm, hit me baby one more time! oh oh. Now that song is in my head. I wish I didn’t kind of like it……also I hope no one can read my mind. Unless it’s when I’m thinking about a cool band like Arcade Fire. Like now.”
Riopelle in 11 words or more: soft, bloomy rind, triple cream from Fromagerie de l’Île-aux-Grues in Quebec. The Fromagerie began as a co-operative of 14 local dairy farmers in 1977 when its first cheese, Cheddar de l’Ile-aux-Grues, was born. Today, the milk is sourced from the island’s six remaining dairy farms. The cows are fed in part on hay that grows naturally on the local mud flats. Riopelle is made from thermalized milk. The label may say “unpasteurized” which is true in theory, but this does not mean raw milk. Thermalization is a gentler heating process than pasteurization which kills potentially harmful bacteria while keeping some of the milk’s beneficial microbes.
cheese and toast 
So if it’s ‘thermalized’ is it safe for pregnant ladies?
Well, in the US thermalized is considered “raw” but in Europe it is considered pasteurized–go figure! Generally (in the pregnancy literature) even pasteurized soft cheese are supposedly not “safe” as the moisture allows more bacteria growth (thus firmer cheeses (less moist) are safe.
But you know, I think in France the pregnant ladies eat the Brie..and Camembert…and those are probably made with raw milk.
I think it’s a better safe than sorry thing, or buy at a trusted source– as much bacteria contamination (including listeria) is not from within the cheese itslef but from the counters, knives, storage areas it is kept.