American cheese? To the French, that's an oxymoron. But a Benedictine nun from Connecticut has proved that even an American can make a mouthwatering fromage to rival creamy Saint-Nectaire.

Mother Noella Marcellino is teaching the French a thing or two about their ancient art: She earned a doctorate in microbiology, studying cheeses made from unpasteurized milk. They're known for their delightful stink and oozy texture — and for giving U.S. food safety regulators a headache.

For her savoir-faire, Marcellino accepted a French Food Spirit Award this week at the Senate in Paris. Organizers called her an "international expert" on cheese — high praise from the land of Camembert for someone from the land of Velveeta processed cheese.

"It's a privilege to have done research in France, especially in an area that's so meaningful for the French," she said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press.

Since 1977, Marcellino has made cheese in a wooden whisky barrel following a technique she learned from a woman who grew up making Saint-Nectaire in the mountains of Auvergne, central France. Saint-Nectaire, one of France's hundreds of cheeses, has a nutty flavor and silky texture.

The 52-year-old nun from a Bethlehem, Conn., cloister has become an unlikely figure in the international cheese spat pitting U.S. food safety regulators against French traditions.

Raw milk cheeses are alive with microorganisms that produce flavor-giving enzymes. But U.S. officials worry they can carry dangerous bacteria, like listeria. In the United States, cheeses must be aged for 60 days or they're banned.

Marcellino says cheese sometimes gets a bad rap in the United States.

"Problems of food safety are much worse in the meat industry, for instance," Marcellino said, citing U.S. recalls of hot dogs after listeria scares. Still, she believes that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is right to be cautious and says more research on cheese safety is needed.

Marcellino needed special permission to leave the cloister to receive the award Monday for her scientific work on cheeses and, organizers said, for making food tasty, "an essential factor for health and pleasure."

Other honorees were Peter Mayle, who wrote "A Year in Provence," and Japanese chef Hiroyuki Hiramatsu, honored for his French restaurants in Japan.

Back in Connecticut at the Abbey of Regina Laudis, nuns raise sheep, work the fields and sing Gregorian chants eight times a day. Marcellino, who is also an accomplished vocalist, was assigned to make cheese. The scientific interest came later.

In the 1990s, Marcellino won a Fulbright scholarship to study in France. She eventually spent four years here studying cheese fungus, going from farm to farm collecting samples. Her fame grew, and she was profiled in a documentary that coined her nickname: "The Cheese Nun."

During this trip, Marcellino came bearing encouraging news about cheesemaking at home.

"There's a great movement of artisanal cheesemaking in America now," she said. At the 2001 conference of the American Cheese Society, more than 300 varieties were on display. This year, there were about 740. The demand is there, she says.

"Consumers in America, their tastes have really changed," she said. "They travel, and they'll taste a cheese in France or Italy."

Back home, some turn to the cheese black market. Or they smuggle cheeses home with them, risking the beagles who scour U.S. airports.

In France, Marcellino picked up a taste for Mont d'Or, made in the Alps. It's oozy and aromatic.

"I'd love to take some back with me," she says. Then she remembers the cheese-sniffing beagles. "That would be pushing it."

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