Dispute en cuisine autour d’un cake maison

What is “faisselle”?

Faisselle is a fresh, drained French curd cheese, sitting between fromage blanc and Italian ricotta in texture. It’s named after the faisselle itself, the small perforated mold the cheese is drained in, and is traditionally served still in that mold at the table. In France it’s eaten as dessert, topped with sugar, honey, fruit coulis, or jam.

The chef in this clip serves faisselle et son coulis de mangue (“faisselle with mango sauce”). France’s habit of treating fresh cheese as dessert is something other cuisines mostly skip: Italians keep mascarpone for cooking, and Americans don’t think of cottage cheese as a dessert at all. Faisselle is the most iconic version of the genre.