Packaged soft cheeses

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Wrapped 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.

Packaged Camembert

Camembert is a generic name which generally designates a soft cheese with a bloomy rind. Commercially, this appellation of Norman origin is not subject to any protection and is used for cheeses that sometimes have little to do with the original Camembert. In some regions of France, Camembert is called “claquos”, “calendos” or “camembos” or cadendos or cadenli or cadenil and in the Jura, it is called Comté coulant.

To distinguish itself from this multitude of cheeses called "camembert" by their manufacturers, the Norman agricultural production chain of the original camembert has applied for and obtained the registration as PDO, protection of the European Union, of the designation of origin. "Camembert de Normandie". The production of milk and its transformation into cheese are ensured only by this sector made up of farmers, producers and processors who respect the specifications attached to this official label.

Origins

There were cheeses in this region long before the birth of the famous Norman Marie Harel, in 1761. From 1554 and 1569, the cheese of the Pays d'Auge is mentioned. In 1708, Thomas Corneille mentioned Camembert cheese in a treatise on geography. Since the 18th century, Camembert has become a benchmark. According to Pierre Androuët, this cream cheese made from skimmed and drained curdled milk has been transformed by the secret of making brie cheese and its economic development is linked to the proximity of fashionable seaside resorts: the cheese found there a clientele of tourists who introduced him to Paris. According to legend, historically not very credible, the history of cheese begins in October 1791, when Marie Harel, a resident of Camembert, helps the refractory Alençonnais priest Charles-Jean Bonvoust to escape the Republicans. This priest, allegedly from Brie, would then have thanked her by revealing to her the secret of making Briard cheese. Marie Harel (II), the daughter of Marie Harel (I) and her husband Thomas Paynel, gradually increased the production of this new cheese. Napoleon III, during a stay in Argentan, would have tasted it, appreciated it and had it delivered to his Tuileries palace in Paris. This is how the fortune of Camembert would have started.

Element of the military ration

The inclusion of a portion of Camembert in the military ration during the First World War also contributes to the distribution of the product.

The battle of raw milk

The emergence of food health crises involving raw or pasteurized milk are always possible. They can strongly affect producers and processors. There is a divergence of dominant points of view on the concepts of “health risks” and “quality” between France and certain Anglo-Saxon countries (the United States, in particular). Raw milk is perceived as a source of risk in some countries, and as a guarantee of quality in others; In 2007, the Lactalis group and the Isigny-Sainte-Mère Cooperative, the two largest manufacturers of Camembert in Normandy, then producing 90% of the volume of this Protected Designation of Origin, wished "temporarily" to abandon the latter for no have more to respect the constraints, for health reasons according to these companies. This would have resulted in a fall in sales from 6,500 tonnes in 2007 to 4,500 tonnes between 2007 and the end of 2008. Not ceding to the pressure of the 2 industrial processors, the Syndicat des Manufacturers de Camembert de Normandie refused to modify its specifications. charges. The Isigny-Sainte-Mère Cooperative has finally relaunched the production of Camembert de Normandie, while maintaining the production of "generic camembert" under its Le Médaillon brand, made from microfiltered milk.

The early 2000s saw the total disappearance of modest peasant productions of Camembert from Normandy.

In 2019, three large farms are producing Camembert de Normandie marketed with the “farmer” label.

Manufacturing
Roasted Camembert and its accompaniments.

The milk is warmed to around 37 ° C then inoculated into leaven (lactic acid bacteria) before being renneted. Coagulation takes about 3/4 of an hour. The curd cheese is sliced into small cubes, using a curd slicer. Left to stand, the whey rises to the surface. It is drawn off by the cheese maker before the curd is placed in a mold. There, the draining continues and the mold gives its circular shape to the cheese. The cheese is turned over several times to drain evenly.

Once formed, the cheese is moved to the hamper where ripening begins. The temperature and the hygrometry are regulated in order to put the lactic ferments in the best conditions of development. After a few days a white felting appears.

Originally, the rind of Camembert was a greenish blue with red spots. With the Parisian public at the start of the 20th century preferring it to be whiter, the mold responsible for the coloring of Camembert was eradicated by Penicillium Candidum, another mold. Today Camembert is no longer produced from Penicillium camembertii but by mold created in vitro by the Institut Pasteur.

Image of cheese

Symbol of its aura with consumers, there are collectors of Camembert boxes, the tyrosemiophiles. Along with the baguette, he is an international symbol of France.

Wrapped havarti

Havarti, or Creamy Havarti (Danish: Flødehavarti), is an uncooked, pressed, cow's milk cheese. He is originally from Denmark.

Havarti has its origins in the Havarthigaard experimental farm operated by Hanne Nielsen in Øverød north of Copenhagen in the mid-19th century. Havarti is made by mixing rennet with milk to make it curdle. The grains thus obtained are pressed into cheese molds, drained and aged. The grains of the cheese are washed before pressing, which gives it a slightly different taste from other cheeses made using similar methods.

Wrapped limburger

Limburg (German: Limburger) is a soft cheese with a washed rind originating in the Duchy of Limburg, a Duchy nowadays shared between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. A copy is made in the United States.

Packed Munster

Munster and munster-géromé (or even minschterkäs in Francique Lorraine or minschterkaas in Alsatian) constitute an appellation of origin designating a cheese made from cow's milk from eastern France, which has been nationally protected since 1969 by an appellation of controlled origin (AOC) and in all the countries of the European Union since 1996 by a protected designation of origin (PDO).

Etymology

Its name comes from the town of Munster in the Haut-Rhin. It owes its name to the low Latin monasterium “monastery” (just like Münster in Westphalia). The town originated from a monastery founded in 660 by Irish monks.

History

The recipe for this cheese would have been left to the Vosges (that is to say to the inhabitants of the Vosges mountains, both from the Alsatian side and from the Lorraine side) in the 9th century by an Irish monk during his visit. [Ref. necessary] Another hypothesis is that the recipe dates back to the time of Charlemagne when monks came to Christianize Austrasia by founding a monastery dedicated to Saint Gregory in the valley of the Fecht (between Gérardmer and Colmar), bringing their know-how in the manufacture of cheese. The monastery (monasterium in Latin) gave its name to the place where it is established, which by phonetic distortion from Latin to German became “munester” then “munster”, name of the Upper Rhine town where the monastery is located. .

In Alsatian, munster is rightly said minschterkaas, that is to say cheese from Minschter (the municipality of Munster). The know-how of Munster spread throughout the Vosges massif via the local abbeys, including in the Lorraine side of the massif where it is produced under the name of "géromé" by alteration in the local dialect of the name of Gérardmer (as located precisely on the Lorraine side of the Vosges and which gave its name to this cheese because it was there that it was sold at fairs.).

This is how the same cheese has existed since the Middle Ages under two different names depending on whether it is produced in the Vosges on the Alsatian side (munster) or on the Lorraine side (gerome recognized by the INAO under the name of munster-géromé ).

The peasants used to pay part of their taxes to the Dukes of Lorraine by delivering this cheese.

The Chaumes du Grand Pâturage had been leased en bloc to a community which sent its herds to graze there. For 270 years (from 1300 to 1570 without interruption), the marcaires of the wealthy community of Munster, in the Saint-Grégoire valley, leased (leased) the Grand Pâturage.

The city of Munster was subsequently a member of the Decapolis under the Holy Roman Empire.

Description

It is a cheese made from raw or pasteurized cow's milk, with a soft washed rind, cylindrical in shape, 13 to 19 cm in diameter, 2.4 to 8 cm high, it can weigh from 450 g to 1.5 kg and has a strong odor. The name "Petit-Munster" or "Petit-Munster-Géromé" is reserved for a munster or munster-géromé of reduced format from 7 to 12 cm in diameter, high from 2 to 6 cm, with a minimum weight of 120 g. The rind is washed by manual rubbing with Brevibacterium linens, also called red ferments.

Production

The dairy, cheese and maturing production area covers seven administrative departments including the Alsatian and Lorraine slopes of the Vosges mountains:

Bas-Rhin (with the exception of the cantons located to the east of the department, along the Rhine),
Haut-Rhin (as for Bas-Rhin: the cantons located all along the Rhine are excluded from the "Munster AOC" production area),
Vosges (the whole of the department, with the exception of a few municipalities located in the far west),
Meurthe-et-Moselle (a few cantons located to the south and east),
Moselle (a few cantons located to the south and east of this department),
Haute-Saône (only a few municipalities located in the far north of the department, near the administrative border with the departments of Vosges and Haut-Rhin),
Territory of Belfort (with the exception of a few cantons).

Production amounted to 8,120 tonnes in 2007 (-11.3% since 1997) including 14% raw milk (9% farmer). Most of the production is now carried out in Lorraine. In 2017, 94% of Munster was made in large dairies, against 6% in farms in the Vosges mountains (farm cheese).

The munster concerns 1,280 milk producers, 80 farm producers, 8 exclusive refiners and 6 industrial processors (INAO 2014 data).
Elaboration
Munster in the ripening phase.

The ripening is done according to the specifications in 21 days minimum for the munster or munster-géromé and in 14 days minimum for the small munster or small munster-géromé. During ripening, each cheese is rubbed by hand and turned every other day. It is also kept in humid cellars at 11 ° C permanently.

The milk processed into munster must exclusively be fresh renneted cow's milk (therefore whole), placed in a mold after division of the unwashed and unmixed curd. The dough is then drained, salted, and its rind smoothed, seeded by hand rubbing which will give a pale yellow to orange hue thanks to the action of ferments linked to Brevibacterium linens. Like all soft washed rind cheeses, Munster has a strong, lingering smell.

Consumption

The ideal consumption period for Munster lasts from May to October after a minimum of 21 days of ripening, but also from April to December.

Its smell is strong, but with a mild taste. Its consumption can be associated with caraway (meadow cumin). Regarding wines, it goes well with Riesling and especially with Gewurztraminer (especially with late harvests or noble grains).

Munster can be used for “raclette” consumption, or as an ingredient in pies, quiches or flamekueches. It is now cooked in tartiflette; the recipe then takes the name of "munstiflette".

Taleggio wrapped

Taleggio (IPA: [taˈleddʒo]) is a semisoft, washed-rind, smear-ripened Italian cheese that is named after Val Taleggio. The cheese has a thin crust and a strong aroma, but its flavour is comparatively mild with an unusual fruity tang.

History

Taleggio and similar cheeses have been around since Roman times, with Cicero, Cato the Elder, and Pliny the Elder all mentioning it in their writings. The cheese was solely produced in the Val Taleggio until the late 1800s, when some production moved to the Lombardy plain to the south.

Production

The production takes place every autumn and winter. First, acidified milk is mixed with rennet taken from milk calves. The cheese is set on wood shelves in chambers, sometimes in caves as per tradition, and matures within six to ten weeks. It is washed once a week with a seawater sponge to prevent mould growth and to form an orange or rose crust.

Today, the cheese is made from both pasteurised milk and raw milk in factories. The factory-made cheeses are brighter and moderate in flavour.

Presentation

The cheese can be eaten grated with salads such as radicchio or rucola (rocket, arugula) and with spices and tomato on bruschetta. It melts well, and can be used in risotto or on polenta.

Nutritional information

Taleggio
Fat content	48%
Nutritional values (per 100 g (3 ¹⁄₂ oz))	energy	1,230 kJ (290 kcal)
	protein	18 g
	fat	25 g
	calcium	460 mg
	phosphorus	360 mg
	magnesium	22 mg
	vitamin A	450 mg
	vitamin B₂	280 mg
	vitamin B₆	131 mg
	vitamin E	4450 mg
Dimensions	18–20 cm (7–8 in) square, height: 5–8 cm (2–3 in)
Weight	1.8–2.2 kg (3 lb 15 oz–4 lb 14 oz)

Made from pasteurized or unpasteurized cow's milk
Country of origin: Italy
Region: Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Milan, Pavia, Treviso, Novara
Type: semi-soft, smear-ripened
Fat content: 48%
Texture: creamy
Rind: washed
Colour: pale yellow
Flavour: fruity, mild, tangy
Aroma: pungent, strong
Vegetarian: no
Synonyms: Taleggio dop di Peghera

Taleggio is a smear-ripened Italian cheese named after the caves of Val Taleggio. It’s one of the oldest soft cheeses produced in every autumn and winter. During cheese making, the acidic milk is brought to the lab and kept on the wood shelves in the chambers as well in caves according to tradition. In order to prevent it from mould infestation, the cheese is washed with seawater once a week. The maturation takes 6 - 10 weeks forming a thin crust.

These days the cheese is made from both pasteurised and unpasteurised milk in factories. These factory-made cheeses have brighter and moderate flavour.

This cheese has been granted a PDO designation and contains 48% fat. The cheese has a strong smell, but its taste is relatively mild with an unusual fruity tang. Taleggio can be served grated on salads. Since it melts well, it can be used in risotto or on polenta.

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