This French idiom is linked to my favourite food : Cheese. En faire tout un fromage š§ š

Find out what ‘En faire tout un fromage’ means by watching a video
This is a video from the radio show from Cyril Hanouna a famous French presenter and he and his guests discuss the meaning of this famous French idiom ‘En faire tout un fromage’. Each guest gives a definition, only one is correct. The guests, in the order of which they speak are ValĆ©rie, Laurent, Pierre, Alex. Cyril in the end gives the correct definition.
Check out some vocabulary first

These are a few words from the video see if you are able to recognize them :
berger š = shepherd
Moyen-Ć¢ge = Middles Ages
fromage š§= cheese
un souci = a problem
vient de = comes from
Normandie = Normandy
Ć©leveurs š = producers
laitier š„ = dairy
compliquƩ = complicated
pƩnible = painful
lait š„ = milk
Here is the video about the meaning of En faire tout un fromage
Don’t worry if you don’t understand it all, I am writing a summary below, watch the video from Europe 1 here : (This will open into a new window, click on the previous tab to come back to this post)

En faire tout un fromage video summary
This is a summary of what the different guests said in order of appearance, which one do you think is correct ?
ValƩrie
Cāest une tradition des bergers du moyen-Ć¢ge, au XIĆØme siĆØcle, ils offraient des fromages quand il y avait un souci, une embrouille, une affaire insurmontable. Ils faisaient un fromage.
It is a tradition of the shepherds of the Middle Ages, in the 11th century, they offered cheese when there was a problem, a confusion, an insurmountable affair. They were making cheese.
Laurent
Cāest une expression qui vient de Normandie. Les Ć©leveurs prĆ©paraient du fromage, cāest la chose la plus compliquĆ©e quāil soit donnĆ©e de produire. Donc faire tout un fromage, la chose la plus compliquĆ©e de faire.
Itās an expression that comes from Normandy. The producers made cheese, it is the most complicated thing that it is possible to produce. So making a cheese, the most complicated thing to do.
Pierre
Ā Un fromage est une production complexe et longue. En faire tout un fromage, cāest en faire beaucoup. Cāest la longueur, le temps de faire un fromage qui est parodiĆ©.
A cheese is a complex and long production. To make a whole lot of cheese is to make a lot of it. It’s the length, the time to make a cheese that is parodied.
Alex
Cāest pĆ©nible de faire un fromage.
Itās painful to make cheese.
What do you think it means ‘En faire tout un fromage’?
Now what do you think it means, is it:
A. ValĆ©rie’s version: it is a present to resolve a problem
B. Laurent’s version : It means to do something complicated out of something basic
C. Pierre’s version : It means to do something for a long period of time
D. Alex’s version : It means to do something painful
The solution by Cyril Hanouna of what ‘En faire tout un fromage’ means
The solution is according to cyril Hanouna :
La vĆ©ritable explication. Elle vient du XX ĆØme siĆØcle. Elle nous vient des laitiers. En partant de pas grand chose, comme du lait, on pouvait produire un produit Ć©laborĆ©. Cāest un produit Ć©laborĆ©. Un homme qui avait tendance Ć faire beaucoup en partant de peu, quāil pouvait en faire tout un fromage.
The real explanation. It comes from the 20th century. It comes to us from the milkmen. Starting from not much, like milk, you could produce an elaborate product. It is an elaborate product. A man who tended to do a lot from little, that he could make a big deal out of it.
This is Laurent who was right š„³. Were you right?
What is the equivalent of ‘en faire tout un fromage’ en anglais ?

I think the equivalent could be :
To make a meal out of it
En faire tout un fromage
or
To make a big deal out of it
En faire tout un fromage
En faire tout un fromage example in real life
This is what one could say about this fantastic French idiom :
ArrĆŖte avec tes histoires, tu ne vas tout de mĆŖme pas en faire tout un fromage !
`Stop it with your stories ! you’re not going to make a big deal out of this !
VoilĆ , this was todayās French idiom in English, I hope you liked it. Click here to find out about the challenge of 50 French idioms in English.
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And Iāll see you next time for more French idioms in English ! šš§”
first time I see this video; so actually, it means that the origin is positive, but somehow became negative thoughout time…interesting!
Thank you Sarah