Boulette d'Avesnes is a cow's milk cheese originally produced in Avesnes, a village on the French-Belgian border.  It is flavoured with parsley, pepper, tarragon, and cloves and later shaped into a cone by hand. The cones (boulettes) were originally produced from buttermilk and made on farms as a by-product of buttermaking. Most boulettes are sold fresh and supposed to be eaten within 30 days. But they can also age quite well in ripening cellars where they develop reddish colour due to the effect of paprika or annatto, a natural food colouring.

This creamy, fresh cheese is well known for its stinky flavour and is best consumed with a good beer or traditional gin.