Beijing Blue, Beijing Gray

"I'll provide them with the DVD and simple utensils," he says. "And it will include the cultures and the milk powders - all done family style."

In the last couple of years, Fromager de Pekin's fan base has broadened from an almost solely expatriate audience to adventurous Chinese who initially knew nothing about specialty cheeses.

The most frequently asked questions, according to Liu, give an indication of their knowledge.

"Is cheese sweet?"

"Can I eat them directly?"

"I'm most elated if they ask if it tastes like salted duck eggs," Liu says, grinning.

Liu also found the new converts were also quick to experiment with baking and cooking and that his "Chinese customers are the best because they're not stubborn about trying new things".

That set him thinking and he soon came up with the idea of DIY cheese courses.

"DIY is the best way to really get to know something new. Who knows? It may be the next trendy thing," Liu says, showing off his business acumen, which had brought him to France in the first place.

"If you think about it, it wasn't so long ago that milk became a family staple in China."

Liu says promoting the culture of cheese is now his mission, and that's why he gives his handcrafted cheese local names such as "Beijing Blue" or "Beijing Gray" which make them immediately approachable.

"I'm never tired of explaining what French cheeses are like," he says.

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