| Brie de Meaux | |
|---|---|
 Brie de Meaux  Texture of Brie de Meaux | |
| Country of origin | France |
| Region, town | Seine-et-Marne |
| Town | Meaux |
| Source of milk | Cows |
| Texture | Soft-ripened |
| Aging time | 6 to 8 weeks |
| Certification | AOC, 1980 |
 Related media on Commons | |
Brie de Meaux is a French brie cheese of the Brie region and a designated AOC product since 1980. [1] Its name comes from the town of Meaux in the Brie region. As of 2003, 6,774 tonnes (-13.4% since 1998) were produced annually.
Brie de Meaux is made from cow's milk, [1] with an average weight of 2.8 kg (6.2 lb) for a diameter of 36 to 37 cm (14 to 15 in). It has a soft, delicate white rind. The interior of the cheese is straw-yellow, creamy and soft. [2]
A modern legend identifies as Brie de Meaux a certain cheese dating to the seventh century, "rich and creamy", with an edible white rind that in the 774 AD Frankish Emperor Charlemagne first tasted in the company of a bishop and approved, [1] requiring two cartloads to be sent to Aachen annually; the site, not mentioned in the anecdotal but unreliable ninth-century life of Charlemagne, De Carolo Magno by Notker the Stammerer, [3] has become associated with the monastery traditionally founded by Rado in Reuil-en-Brie. [4]
This cheese was named the "king of cheeses" in 1815 by Talleyrand at the Congress of Vienna. [5]
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The production territory of Brie de Meaux is limited to the departments of Seine-et-Marne, Loiret, Meuse, Aube, Marne, Haute-Marne and the Yonne. There is, however, no production close to Meaux, and there is little celebration of the cheese in the town.
Brie de Meaux is made with raw cow's milk. It takes about 25 litres (6.6 US gal) of milk to make a large cheese. The fermented milk is placed in a tank for 16 hours, then put in bowl for curding which lasts one hour. It is then cut into small cubes with a slice-curd. Finally, it is molded by hand by thin layers with a brie shovel. The temperature in the room where casting is made must be increased to 33 °C (91 °F) for four hours to evacuate the whey, then at 24 °C (75 °F) for six hours and finally at 19 °C (66 °F). It is then drained on mats made of reeds. The next day, the cheese is then salted and they will then remain in the curing room for two days. Then, the cheeses are placed in a room at 12 °C (54 °F) in which they will begin to be refined and the characteristic white rind will begin to appear. After one week, the cheese will be placed in another refrigerator at 7 °C (45 °F). It must wait 3 weeks minimum, typically 6 to 8 weeks to reach full maturity. Throughout the ripening period, cheeses are routinely turned by hand. The time of manufacture of Brie de Meaux is two months.
Brie is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated. It is pale in color with a slight grayish tinge under a rind of white mould. The rind is typically eaten, with its flavor depending largely upon the ingredients used and its manufacturing environment. It is similar to Camembert, which is native to a different region of France. Brie typically contains between 60% and 75% butterfat, slightly higher than Camembert.
Morbier is a semi-soft cows' milk cheese of France named after the small village of Morbier in Franche-Comté. It is ivory colored, soft and slightly elastic, and is immediately recognizable by the distinctive thin black layer separating it horizontally in the middle. It has a yellowish, sticky rind.
Camembert is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look and taste to brie cheese, albeit with a slightly lower butterfat content than brie's typical 60% and 75% by weight.
Comté is a French cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France bordering Switzerland and sharing much of its cuisine. Comté has the highest production of all French Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) cheeses, at around 66,500 tonnes annually. It is classified as an Alpine cheese.
Pont-l'Évêque is a French cheese, originally manufactured in the area around the commune of Pont-l'Évêque, between Deauville and Lisieux in the Calvados département of Normandy. It is probably the oldest Norman cheese still in production.
Saint-Nectaire is a French cheese made in the Auvergne region of central France.
Époisses, also known as Époisses de Bourgogne, is a legally demarcated cheese made in the village of Époisses and its environs, in the département of Côte-d'Or, about halfway between Dijon and Auxerre, in the former duchy of Burgundy, France, from agricultural processes and resources traditionally found in that region.
Bleu des Causses is a French blue cheese made from whole cow's milk. Some consider it as a mild variant of Roquefort. The cheese has a fat content of 45% and is aged for 3–6 months in Gorges du Tarn's natural limestone caves. The ripening process involving naturally temperature-controlled cellars is the major element that gives it its special aroma. Today, it is a relatively rare cheese that is only made by a handful of small producers.
Castello is a brand of cheeses produced by Arla Foods amba, a Danish agricultural marketing cooperative based in Viby, Aarhus. Worldwide, a variety of cheeses are marketed under the Castello name, including semi soft cheeses, semi hard cheeses, blue cheeses, and cream cheeses.
Chabichou is a traditional semi-soft, unpasteurized, natural-rind French goat cheese with a firm and creamy texture. Chabichou is formed in a cylindrical shape which is called a "bonde", per the shape of the bunghole of a wine barrel. and is aged for 10 to 20 days. It is the only goat cheese that is soft ripened allowed by Protected Designation of Origin regulations to be produced using pasteurized milk. Chabichou is very white and smooth, and flexible to the palate, with a fine caprine odor.
Coulommiers is a soft ripened cheese from Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne, France. It is made from cow's milk, and is usually in the shape of a disc with white, bloomy, edible Penicillium candidum rind. When produced as an artisanal or "farmhouse" cheese from unpasteurized milk, it has some reddish blush in parts of the rind. The period of ripening when made of pasteurised whole milk is about four to six weeks. The fat content is 40 per cent.
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk. During production, milk is usually acidified and either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity are added to cause the casein to coagulate. The solid curds are then separated from the liquid whey and pressed into finished cheese. Some cheeses have aromatic molds on the rind, the outer layer, or throughout.
Caprino is an Italian cheese traditionally made from whole or skimmed goat's milk. The name of the cheese derives from the Italian word for goat, capra. With modern methods of production, the cheese is made from cow's milk as well or a combination of both cow's and goat's milks. The two major styles of caprino are fresco (fresh) and stagionato (aged).
Fourme de Montbrison is a cow's-milk cheese made in the regions of Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne in southern France. It derives its name from the town of Montbrison in the Loire department.
Abbaye de Tamié is a soft cheese made from unpasteurised cow's milk, similar in style to Reblochon and produced exclusively by the monks of Tamié Abbey, near to Albertville in the Savoie département, in the French Alps.
There are many different types of cheese. Cheeses can be grouped or classified according to criteria such as length of fermentation, texture, methods of production, fat content, animal milk, and country or region of origin. The method most commonly and traditionally used is based on moisture content, which is then further narrowed down by fat content and curing or ripening methods. The criteria may either be used singly or in combination, with no single method being universally used.
Cantabrian cream cheese is made from the milk of Friesian cows in Cantabria, an autonomous community in northern Spain. The cheese has a Protected Designation of Origin since 1985. The production of the cheese is confined to all parts of Cantabria, except the areas of Tresviso and Menor de Bejes in the western part of the region. It is presented in forms of various weights from 400 – 2,800 g. The size of the forms varies according to the weight.
Delice d'Argental is a triple cream French cheese from the Burgundy region. It is made by hand from cow's milk. The addition of crème fraîche to the curds during manufacture provides for extra richness - developing an exceptionally creamy texture. This cheese has a soft bloomy rind which is yellow-white in colour. It is similar to Brie both in appearance and texture.