Brie

Bries are an important family of soft cheeses with a bloomy rind, originating in the French region of Brie.

Native country   France
Region  Seine et Marne
Milk  Cow
Dough  Soft with bloomy rind
Named in reference to  Brie

Varieties

Brie de Meaux AOP, Ile-de-France
Brie de Melun AOP, Ile-de-France
Brie from Montereau, Ile-de-France
Brie from Nangis, Ile-de-France
Brie from Provins, Ile-de-France
Brie noir, Île-de-France
Brie farmer, Ile-de-France
Blue Brie de Melun
Small molded brie
Dairy brie
Truffle brie
Coulommiers, Ile-de-France
Brie Mont Bebour, Reunion

Only Bries de Meaux and Melun are protected by a PDO. These two protections, obtained in 2009, are the only ones for cheeses from the region. The different bries vary in diameter, weight and ripening time.

History

Antiquity: origins of Brie cheeses

Brie cheeses certainly existed before the Roman invasion, but their exact origin is unknown. Although retaining the same basic characteristics, including the preparation based on partially skimmed raw milk, different types of cheese have stood out over the centuries.

The Middle Ages: casei brienses

It is attested that Robert le Pieux tasted brie at Château de Melun in 999.

In the 13th century, the city of Provins was the third largest city in France, after Paris and Rouen; it strikes its own currency. The local cheeses sold in the markets of its fairs are also already renowned, and are even the subject of proverbial phrases. The fairs were held in the lower town7 on February 2, Trinity Sunday, June 24, September 11 and November 11.

The cheeses from the near region of Provins are cited under the name casei brienses (Brie cheeses) in an out-of-court handwritten account - relating facts from 1217, deposited with the principal collector of the fairs of Provins, for the purchase of two hundred casei brienses performed by Countess Blanche de Navarre (1177 - † 1229) at the fairs of Saint-Jean and Saint-Ayoul. It shows that seven cheeses were trading for around a penny, the two hundred cheeses having traded for "a pound twelve cents". These cheeses are addressed to King Philippe-Auguste.

The modern era: "Brie cheeses"

The Champagne fairs disappeared during the Renaissance, which led to a decline in the notoriety of the cheeses sold on the markets of Provins in favor of those of Meaux, Melun or Coulommiers. Thus, in 1764, the main trade in Provins consisted of "bleds" (wheat).

In 1814, at the Congress of Vienna, during “diplomatic dinners” between emissaries of the powers represented, culinary competitions were organized between the countries. Talleyrand offers for tasting bries which have just been brought to him by the mail; the commensals consecrate the brie "king of cheeses". The appellation has remained.

Due to the continental blockade of 1806, France no longer has access to products from the West Indies. To make up for the lack of sugar cane, the cultivation of sugar beet is gradually developing. Its industry suffered when the blockade was lifted in 1814, but in 1848, the abolition of slavery pushed up the price of sugar cane cultivation, and beet exploitation resumed strongly, developing particularly in Brie . Nevertheless, as in all of Brie, “fromaiges de brye” are produced in the farms around Provins - as in the abbey of Jouy in Chenoise, from which 7,000 Brie cheeses are produced per year -, but especially around the towns of Melun. and Meaux, cattle breeding in the towns of Provins, Nangis and Coulommiers, mainly focused on fattening calves.

In the 1950s, the Saint-Brice cheese dairy, located a few kilometers from Provins, tried to launch a Provinian Camembert. The attempt was unsuccessful and the Camembert from Provence quickly disappeared.

These cheeses are generally presented at the tip. Legend has it that not cutting the tip when serving is bad luck.

Iconography

At the museum in Soissons, a painting by Marie Jules Justin represents, among other things, a brie cheese, its title is Symphonie des fromage en brie major (or Nature morte au fromage); it is an oil on canvas, donation of Alphonse de Rothschild.