Description of the benefits of white mold cheese, as well as a photo of this French cheese. Cheese delicacies: cheese with green mold

Not every Russian can even pronounce the names of other cheeses: camembert, gorgonzola... But if he tastes it, he will never forget it. But there are others: brie, roquefort, "Dorblue", danablue, "Stilton", "Furm d" Amber, each with its own history.

The refined and noble taste of these cheeses is given not by the skill of the cheese maker and not by the quality of the milk (although we should not forget about them either). The main reason is molds!

Yeast-like mushrooms

And mold is different. Roquefort, Gorgonzola and other cheeses of this type are inhabited by penicillium (Penicillium) - blue mold (hence their name - "blue cheeses"). And Brie and others like it are infected, in the best sense of the word, with the yeast-like fungus Geotrichum candidum. However, this is not just a mold, but a noble one - one might say, Mold with a capital letter. She, a noble mold, protects the cheese from unwanted infection, as it takes the place where harmful microorganisms would like to settle.

Emperor Charlemagne, who discovered brie cheese in 774, called it "one of the most exquisite dishes". Brie (which, by the way, is one of the oldest cheeses in the world) was known as the best gift among counts and kings. Thus, Blanche of Navarre, Countess of Champagne, had the custom of sending brie as a gift to King Philip Augustus. It is called so - "cheese of kings".

Roquefort cheese, according to legend, was "invented" by a young shepherd. He pastured a flock of sheep near the village of Roquefort and, in a moment of rest (they say, in a cave), he was going to dine on a piece of black bread with sheep cheese. And a beautiful young maiden was walking past that cave on some business. The young shepherd left his breakfast and (who would have doubted!) ran after her. How long he was absent and why, history is silent, but when he returned to that cave, he found that the cheese was covered with blue mold. However, his hunger did not disappear anywhere, and even intensified during his absence, and he ate this cheese. And I was blown away by the great taste! So world cuisine was enriched with Roquefort cheese.

Of the youngest cheeses, one can recall Dorblu; it was invented at the beginning of the 20th century in Germany. The recipe is kept secret. The Danish blue cheese danablue has a history of about 80 years; it was created as an analogue of Roquefort.

Hidden Recipe

Everyone knows that penicillin living in Roquefort is useful. Even before the discovery of this fact, doctors gave moldy cheese to the sick, hardly understanding why the patients get well. But not only blue cheeses are useful. So, at the beginning of the 20th century, a French doctor treated seriously ill patients with Normandy cheese, covered with white mold. In honor of this doctor, grateful patients erected a monument near the village of Camembert.

The history of the appearance of this cheese to the world is no less romantic than the story of the shepherd and Roquefort cheese. The monks knew the recipe for making camembert from time immemorial, but they hid it from hungry peoples, and then it was as if one of them revealed it to his girlfriend Marie Harel because she saved him from death during the French Revolution. So it was or not, but in 1928, on the square of the city of Vimoutier, grateful lovers of Camembert solemnly opened a monument to Marie Arel and their favorite cheese.

And by the way, moldy cheese can enhance a person's creative inclinations. One day, Salvador Dali, having eaten Camembert for dinner, looked at his unfinished painting and saw “fluid hours”. That's how "The Persistence of Memory" was written. This fact is stated in the memoirs of the master.

Noble mold adds spiciness to the cheese, and the longer the cheese is stored, the spicier it will be. Some cheeses have a slight hazelnut flavor, like Roquefort.
Camembert has a mushroom flavor, and brie has a slight smell of ammonia. It's all about the enzymes: growing on the surface or inside the cheese, the mold releases enzymes, which, in combination with the cheese, form a fusion of flavors. The yeast-like fungus Geotrichum doesn't taste good on its own, but what a delicious taste it gets when paired with regular cow's cheese! Have you ever tried penicillin? If yes, then you are unlikely to like it, but eat Roquefort for a sweet soul.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to find real blue cheese these days. If, for example, Roquefort is produced according to the classic recipe (stored in a limestone cave for three months so that the necessary mold appears on it by itself), then this cheese will be in constant shortage. Therefore, such cheeses are made industrially, infecting the cheese with a pure culture of the desired fungus, and Roquefort can be bought at any store.

English note

Of the English mold cheeses, Stilton is best known, which, unlike other cheeses of this kind, comes in both blue and white. He gained fame through the efforts of the innkeeper Cooper Thornhill. This Thornhill was passing through Leicestershire in 1730, and there, on a small farm, he was treated to blue cheese (which was not yet called Stilton). Delighted by the taste of the product, Thornhill immediately bought the exclusive right to sell the cheese, and he sold it in his inn "The Bell" in the village of Stilton. Hence the name. And past this tavern passed the stagecoach route between London and Edinburgh. Of course, the passengers snapped up the cheese in flight. Soon all of England knew about the blue Stilton. Why is there England - the whole of Europe!

Cheese began to falsify everywhere, the technology was broken, measures were required to protect the name. Defended: Now the name "Stilton" is protected by law, that is, it is forbidden to use this word for any cheese produced outside the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The irony is that the village of Stilton, which gave the cheese its name, is located in the county of Cambridgeshire, and Stilton cheese cannot be produced there.

In Italy, they produce blue gorgonzola cheese, named after a small village near Milan. Locals claim that the recipe has been known to them for over a thousand years. As if they used to produce stracchino cheese (translated from Italian - “tired”) from the milk of cows tired from a long transition from the mountains. And then a certain cheese maker, whose name did not remain in history, once violated the technology, and he ripened cheese interspersed with mold. The inhabitants were delighted and began to completely violate the technology, and at the same time the copyrights of an unknown cheese maker.

So do not be afraid of moldy cheeses! History shows that no one has died from them yet, but as a medicine they were used ...

Cook in Russian

In Great Russia, not only blue cheese, but even ordinary hard cheeses were not made. Here the soils are poor, winters are long, the period of stall keeping of livestock is longer than in Europe, there is less fodder, and there is no milk yield. The Russian peasant often kept a cow not for the sake of milk, but for the sake of manure, as fertilizer.

Milk, of course, was drunk, and languished, and curd was made from it. And from cottage cheese in a "raw" way, without heating, Russian cheeses ripened. They were pressed and seasoned, holding their shape tightly. Until now, in our country, what is baked from cottage cheese is called syrniki; still in stores they sell cottage cheese called "homemade cheese".

Peter I "infected" Russia with European cheeses. After him, the people ate their usual Russian cheese, and the nobles - hard imported or made by the Dutch. Then he came up with the paradoxical word "cheese factory": cheese - from the word "raw", and if it was cooked, then what kind of "raw" is it?

The first domestic cheese factory, which flooded the whole country with its cheap cheese, appeared in our country at the end of the 19th century. Nikolai Vereshchagin, who managed it (by the way, the brother of a famous battle painter), formulated the task as follows: “To teach the Russian peasantry how to cook cheese and churn butter in the European manner.” Well, they learned to imitate Europe, but the traditional Russian cheese has disappeared.

Many of us know that blue cheese is considered a delicacy. What is so unusual about this cheese? It turns out that real blue cheese is produced only in France.

Other countries also do something similar, but the best cheeses are French-made.

Blue cheese and its legend

Interestingly, there is a beautiful, romantic legend about blue cheese. Once a young boy, a shepherd, on the slope of Mount Kombalu (near the village of Roquefort) sat down to eat cheese and bread. At that moment, a beauty passed by. The young man wanted to meet the girl and rushed after her, but she was gone.

Returning a few days later to the cave, he saw the left cheese, covered with mold. The young man tried it and was pleasantly surprised: the cheese acquired a completely new taste. So, according to legend, Roquefort cheese appeared one of the most, perhaps, famous blue cheeses.

Where is blue cheese made?

It is clear that these are just legends. But in fact, blue cheeses have a rich history. Roquefort cheese is produced in the caves of Rouergue, France. If you find cheese from another manufacturer on store shelves, then you have something other than an ordinary fake.

The fact is that Roquefort cheese is produced in relatively small batches, because. there are not so many places in the caves, and its cost is several times higher than its analogues. It is not at all necessary that such cheeses will be less tasty than real Roquefort.

Is mold in cheese harmful?

Many unknowingly claim that the mold used in production is unhealthy. This is wrong. Penicillium roqueforti mold does not harm the human body at all, just has a similar sound to penicillin. It is one of the most important factors that gives the cheese an original, incomparable taste.

Types of blue cheese

In addition to Roquefort, there are also such varieties of blue cheese as Stilton, Gorgonzola and others.

Blue cheese - Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola, like Roquefort, is one of the most famous varieties of blue cheese. Italy is considered his homeland (or rather, the regions of Piedmont and Lombardy). These two cheeses are very different in taste, because. Italians use sheep's milk to make cheese.

In addition, manufacturers also use various types of mold. If in Roquefort it is Penicillium roqueforti, then in Gorgonzola it is Penicillium glaucum and two types of bacteria Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. While the cheese is ripening, metal rods are inserted into the mass to ensure good ventilation. The aging time of Gorgonzola is about four months. It is known that the Gorgonzola variety is more than 200 years older than Roquefort.

Gorgonzola has a copy called Bavaria Blue.

Blue cheese - Stilton

Stilton cheese comes from England, from the counties of Lesteshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Cheese of this variety is produced only from pasteurized cow's milk. It is kept for at least 9 weeks.

There are 2 types of English Stilton - blue (the most popular) and less known - white Stilton. Unlike other cheeses, in the total mass of cheese there are many like moves made by mold.

In order to get the proud name of Stilton, the cheese must meet a variety of requirements. In a real Stilton cheese, there must be specific blue veins coming from the center.

Stilton cheese is considered the youngest(compared to the two previous varieties described by us) it appeared relatively recently - in the 18th century.

Blue cheese - Danablou

There is also a younger cheese - danablo, which appeared already in the twentieth century. He came to replace the expensive Roquefort.

Because blue cheese has a rather sharp taste, it is usually served with tannin wines. Some gourmets and cheese connoisseurs tend to argue that blue cheese is incompatible with wine, with some white wines being an exception.

What do you eat blue cheese with?

Warm the blue cheese to room temperature before serving. It goes especially well with fruits, vegetables, crispbread, crackers, etc. The British eat this cheese with vegetables and fresh herbs, and also add it to soups; the Danes - with bread, the Italians add it to the sauce and pizza.

Blue cheese is a great ingredient for salads, with the exception of Roquefort cheese. This elite variety of cheese is best eaten as an independent dish.

Is blue cheese healthy? Does it have any use?

• Yes, if you eat it not very often and in small portions. It contains phosphorus and calcium, as well as other vitamins, as well as protein and amino acids necessary for a person.
• Many nutritionists claim that blue cheese also contains beneficial bacteria. that improve bowel function.
• Turkish scientists have made a discovery, it turns out that noble mold contains special substances that can protect the skin from harmful effects. sun rays. Eating blue cheese causes substances to accumulate in the subcutaneous layer, as a result of which more melanin is produced in the body, which significantly reduces the risk of sunburn.

With mold. In a short time, he received ardent admirers and equally ardent opponents. Such a product has a specific aroma, appearance and taste. But it should be remembered that not all mold on cheese and other products is healthy, so some aspects must be taken into account when choosing a product.

What is the name of blue cheese

In France, there are more than 500 varieties of blue cheese. Moreover, it should be clarified that this is not a simple mold, which covers products with improper storage or expiration dates, this is a special type of food mold, which is added in the manufacture of cheeses. It is completely safe for the human body.

The main types of cheeses differ in the shade of mold: red, blue and white. Red cheeses are slightly sharp and savory, Munster and Limburg are very common. White - creamy, delicate, giving a slight taste of mushrooms, this is the Camembert and Brie variety. Blue ones are the most spicy and piquant, the most famous variety is Roquefort.

Popular varieties of blue cheeses:

• Roquefort;
• Munster;
• Dor Blue;
• Epoisse;
• Livaro;
• Camembert;
• Limburgish;
• Gorgonzola;
• Stilton;
• Cambozolo;
• Fourmes d'Amber.

All these types are made from natural, except for Roquefort. It is made from sheep. Gorgonzola, Stilton, Cambozolo and Fourme d'Amber are blue mold cheeses, while Epoisse and Livaro are red.

The benefits of blue cheese

It has been proven that blue cheese, consumed in small quantities, helps to get rid of insomnia. As in any cheese, there is a lot of calcium in the moldy product, which is necessary for the human body for strong bones, nails and teeth. And due to food mold, calcium is better and faster absorbed by the body. There is also a lot of protein in blue cheese, and cheese is in first place among fish and meat, providing the body with protein, which in turn is necessary for muscle tissue.

The delicacy has a lot of essential vitamins, amino acids and beneficial trace elements. All of them saturate the body, improving its work, strengthening muscles.

Due to mold and certain substances, the production of melanin in the skin improves, which significantly reduces the negative effects of ultraviolet rays and the appearance of sunburn.

Food mold, penetrating into the intestine, improves its functioning, while creating a favorable environment for beneficial bacteria. Due to this, fermentation of undigested products and dysbacteriosis are prevented.

It has been proven that people who have added cheese delicacy to their diet are less prone to strokes, heart attacks, depression, disturbed sleep, fatigue, fatigue. In addition, the consumption of cheese helps the rapid healing of various wounds.

Harm of blue cheese

Of course, like any product, moldy delicacy should not be abused. Even the healthiest person, when the dose is exceeded, can begin to suffer from the intestines. The optimal amount per day is 50 g of the product.

For people suffering from chronic problems of the gastrointestinal tract, it is better to refuse to sample the delicacy altogether. You can get intestinal upset and dysbacteriosis.

With fungal diseases and allergies to penicillin, the delicacy can worsen the whole situation, so the product should be excluded from the diet, or consumed with great care.

Allergic reactions to moldy cheeses are also possible. Such a delicacy with blue and white mold is harmful for lactation. Pregnant women may experience the following problems: fever, fever, vomiting. Because of these symptoms, premature birth, abnormalities in the developing fetus, and miscarriage can occur.

Man has been making moldy cheeses for 4,000 years, and during this time he has learned to manage the ripening processes and not be afraid of mold, which often accompanies cheese in maturation. If you look at a piece of real cheese made from fresh unpasteurized milk through a microscope, you will find a rather dense community of a wide variety of organisms that do all this titanic work to turn milk into a delicious and well-digestible product. Descriptions of cheese making can be found in the writings of Aristotle and Homer, and the legend of how Zarathustra spent 20 years as a hermit, eating only cheese, clearly shows how important this product was for the ancient world.

Let us assume that cheese without mold is a relatively new invention for mankind. And the flourishing of cheeses, devoid of any trace of mold, began with the invention of pasteurization. Any cheese until the mid-19th century was associated with mold in one way or another, because it is much easier to let mold grow on cheese than to fight it. In addition, the mold adds a spicy taste to the cheese, changes its structure and gives rise to an amazing variety of flavors. But mold mold is different.

First you need to clearly divide all cheeses into traditional (from fresh milk) and industrial (from pasteurized). With the traditional method, milk is not subjected to any protective heat treatment, and the taste of cheese directly depends on what pasture the animals grazed on, what types of herbs they ate, milked them in the morning or evening, and much more. Mold with this method of making cheese forms itself, but the process of its growth is controllable, and so that excess or incorrect mold does not appear, cheese makers use time-tested techniques. For example, milk is curd immediately or overnight after milking, or special storage conditions are used, for example, in sea grottoes. For industrial production, milk is pasteurized, that is, it gets rid of most of the harmful (and at the same time beneficial) bacteria, and the necessary microorganisms and mold are added artificially. This allows you to get the most convenient product for control, but the taste and aroma are noticeably lost from this.

There are many types of mold on cheese. Not all of them are useful, many are harmful and only three types of mold are used for food: white, which is often in the form of a soft crust (for example, on Camembert or Brie), red (orange) on Munster or Livaro and blue or noble, which is found in Dor Blue, Gorgonzola, Roquefort and others.

White mold is a fungus called Penicillium camemberti or Penicillium candidum that lives exclusively on the outside of the cheese head. The mold layer can be up to 2 mm thick and covers the cheese evenly. Often people who are unfamiliar with French cheeses take Camembert or Brie for a spoiled product, especially since the external (and internal) appearance of these cheeses does not inspire confidence in a lover of Russian or Kostroma. But after a successful tasting, there is a feeling of liberation from moldy paranoia and a slight fall in love with this wonderful French cheese. Miracles occur at the border of taste and aftertaste. Moreover, they also have a smell that is not related to taste in any way. By the way, mold gives an incomparable mushroom flavor to anything, and it would be a terrible mistake to eat Brie without mold.

I'll tell you a secret, many cheeses have white mold on the rind, especially if the milk has not been pasteurized before curdling. White mold in small quantities may appear on the crust during the ripening of the cheese and in other varieties - this is absolutely normal. Moreover, this mold easily turns red if the crust is washed with sea water or wine. In addition to the well-known Brie and Camembert, there are several dozen cheeses that are quite well-known outside of Russia with white mold. For example, Coulomier has a moldy crust similar to Brie. Maroi cheese has white and blue mold performs a certain taste role in the ripening process and is brushed off with a brush dipped in salted water. At the same time, ready-made cheese is sold already without lush mold, but with traces of it. Neufchatel is another Brie brother who comes in a romantic heart shape. Picodon goat cheese also covers a profuse layer of mold, and Pon-l "Evek cheese has white mold covering a pinkish crust with older reddish mold due to salt solutions. By the way, it is made in the homeland of cider and it is believed that cider is best suited to Pon-l "Evek. Savoy Reblochon or Pyrenean Rocamadour have traces of mold, which emphasizes the taste and gives the cheese a sharpness. Goat cheese Croten de Chavignon, Coeur de Chevre, Chef-Bouton, Italian Robiola or Bra, Swiss House Blanc with a mild creamy taste and, again, French Explorer, Gaperon, Dreux a oa Fey, Gale de Bigor, Burso, Shaurs - they say that there are many cheeses with white mold, they are different in taste and smell, and this is extremely good!

Almost all cheeses with a white moldy crust have common signs. As a rule, such cheeses are made from fresh (unpasteurized) milk, the cheeses are aged from 1 to 8 weeks, the pulp of the cheeses is soft, sometimes it looks like condensed milk. Mold gives the cheese a piquancy, sharp taste or aroma. Cheeses with a moldy crust cannot be stored for a long time. Soft cheeses develop their flavor best when they are warmed to room temperature. To do this, a portion of cheese, having taken it out of the refrigerator, is left indoors for 6 hours. Wines for cheeses with white mold are selected according to the principle - the sharper the cheese, the brighter the wine.

Red mold is the same penicillin, the pinkish or reddish color of which appeared under the action of salt water, wine, cider, calvados, grape pomace vodka and other liquids that are sometimes washed around the edges of cheese to give a specific flavor. They are called "washed-edged cheeses" and the pinkish tint is a modification of the color of the white mold. A typical example of red mold cheese is Camembert de Normandie. Camembert, familiar to us, is immersed young and unripe in cider for 15 days, after which it acquires a spicy taste with hints of ripe fruit. And then there is the more radical Camembert de Calvados, which, as the name implies, is dipped in strong calvados (cider spirit) and sprinkled with bread crumbs on the surface. The taste of Camembert de Calvados is very spicy and salty, and strong and bright drinks are recommended for it. Another example is Brie Noir, which, during aging, acquires a pinkish tint not only in the crust, but also in the flesh.

The most charismatic are cheeses that were originally soaked in salt solutions or sea water to create pink or red mold. For example, Livaro, another ingenious product of the Normans, who tied the head of cheese with cane stalks and additionally tinted salt water with annatto dye to create a particularly beautiful orange-brown crust with whitish and reddish mold stains. Livaro gains smell and taste during maturation.

Epoisse, the famous cheese from Burgundy, is washed with Burgundy vodka made from grape pomace several times. Epoisse acquires a beautiful crust color: first beige, and then reddish brown. Epoisse has a creamy taste when young and mature, complex and spicy when mature.

Münster is another famous red mold cheese. The mold itself acquires color upon contact with the Vosges waters, where the head of the cheese is certainly dipped during aging, and sometimes the waters are replaced with vodka or grape pomace, which, as you might guess, gives birth to two more new varieties of cheese.

But aged Rocamadour is overgrown with a whole bouquet of mold, which not every gourmet dares to try. Common properties for all cheeses with pink or reddish mold can be considered their sharper taste compared to white mold brothers, a sharper aroma due to contact with salt water, wine, vodka or other liquids. Such cheeses tend to age longer: from 2-3 weeks to 1 year. The choice of wine or drink is also dictated by the taste of cheese, its richness. It can be either white Tokay or strong Calvados.

Blue or noble mold is pure penicillin, and each cheese has its own variety. For example, in Roquefort it is Penicillium roqueforti, and in Morbier it is Pencillium glaucum. It was cheeses with blue mold that first penetrated the post-Soviet space and took root in modern Russia, securing the concept of “blue cheese”. A very recent (2009) curious case is known when the police seized an allegedly spoiled batch of cheese in a store amid violent protests from sellers and explanations “that it should be so, it is delicious!”. Blue cheese still causes a storm of emotions, many are still afraid to try it, and there are reasons for this. Blue mold, which is quite edible in cheese, is actually related to blue mold from bread, which can cause quite serious food poisoning. And they are afraid of him. But in vain - blue mold develops on the outside of bread, and on the inside of cheese without oxygen. If you do not go into the depths of chemistry and pharmacology, then cheese mold is not at all dangerous and may be undesirable only in the case of several diseases, for example, thrush or individual intolerance to penicillin.

The most famous blue cheese in Russia can be safely called the German Dor Blue cheese and its twin brother Bergader. It is a moderately spicy cheese with a spicy aroma and taste. Made from cow's milk using the mold penicillium roqueforti. Another cheese popular in Russia, Roquefort, is prepared with the same mold. It is prepared only in one place in France - the province of Rouergue from sheep's milk, mold penicillium roqueforti with aging in sea grottoes. This is a cheese that is rightfully considered the most famous blue cheese in the world. He is very fond of restaurateurs for the fact that he almost does not change the aroma and taste with various processing. By the way, Roquefort is covered with a crust of white mold on top, so the cheese can be attributed to two categories at once. When serving and cutting Roquefort, like other delicate blue cheeses, they use a special string knife or Roquefort cutter in order to preserve the structure and not spoil the rather delicate mold blotches.

The second most famous in the world and the third in Russia is Gorgonzola cheese, which is made from cow's milk and mold injections are made at the ripening stage (unlike Roquefort, where mold is added during curdling). There are two varieties of Gorgonzola Dolce - a young cheese with a sweetish taste and a mature Gorgonzola Piccante - dense, with a thick aroma and rich taste. Gorgonzola is often used in pasta sauces or as a French-style dessert. The list of blue mold cheeses is as long as its white mold brothers. Bleu du Haut-Jura, Fourm d'Amber, Bleu d'Auvergne, Bleu de Cosse, Bleu de Bresse, Danish Danablou - all of them, in their desire to be like Roquefort, have found their own taste characteristics, on which the varietal diversity is built to the delight of cheese lovers .

In addition to white, red and blue mold, there is also black cheese mold. Cheeses with such mold are prepared in European countries from unpasteurized milk and are not exported due to the special traditions of using such cheese and small batches. This is exactly the case when mold can be poisoned, so black mold is usually cleaned before use. Such cheeses can only be tasted at the place of their production.

Blue cheeses are a unique food phenomenon. Man has learned to use alien and often hostile organisms for the benefit of cooking, making gourmets happy, and going to the cheese shop is an exciting experience. Eat moldy cheeses boldly, but do not forget that mold that is not specific to the variety is already a sign of a spoiled product. Be healthy and live tasty!

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Even connoisseurs still doubt how many varieties and types of cheese are produced in France. Even the legendary Charles de Gaulle, not believing in his own strength, said something like this: "It is impossible to lead a country in which there are more varieties of cheese than days in a year." Below is my attempt at least slightly, at least very superficially, to systematize my own knowledge in such a capacious topic as French cheeses.

The number of varieties of French cheese is currently about 500, but this is most likely not the limit. To make some detailed lists and descriptions for me, a simple amateur, I think it's pointless. Having looked through the Internet, I came to the conclusion that everyone has their own list of the “best” and “most popular” cheeses. The only thing that can be done is to name several dozen varieties of French cheese known throughout the world. About them below and will be written. But I will leave the smallest details and details to the lucky travelers, each of whom, traveling around France, will try more and more new cheeses there and will be able to boldly make their own lists and descriptions of them, unlike others.

The French generally tend not to give names to some cheeses, because they do not produce them for sale, but for themselves. Each French village has and carefully keeps the secrets of making its own unique cheese. And, of course, its inhabitants do not at all seek to reveal these secrets to anyone.

Cheese classification

The category "French cheeses" includes hard and soft varieties, aged and young, with mold or rind-covered cheeses. They are made from cow, goat or sheep milk. In general, everyone, being an amateur like me or a specialist in this field, will certainly find something for himself here. No wonder, because most of these cheeses are simply excellent!

AOC certification

The presence on the product of such a logo or any of its variations is a sign of quality, which is under the protection of the law

Many of the French world-famous cheeses are made in the historically established territories, the name of which gave the names to the cheeses themselves. These are traditional French cheeses labeled AOC - Appellation d'Origine Controlee, which translates as "originally controlled name". In France, there is a corresponding law, according to which cheese named after a particular geographical area can only be produced there and nowhere else. There are about 36 such cheeses today. They deserve special attention, because they are the embodiment of all the centuries-old experience, traditions and skills of French cheese making.

Another interesting point is the variety of geometric shapes of cheeses. They come in the form of a circle, disk, drum, rectangle, square, cylinder, cone, triangle, and even a heart. This or that form is designed to ensure the most uniform maturation of the cheese. And of course, this is due to the history of the origin of cheeses and the traditions of their preparation. For example, once peasants used rectangular or triangular shapes at the stage of cheese molding, and then it just became a tradition. Brie or Camembert is almost always a disc. Goat cheeses are most often a cone, as this shape helps to keep the whole head of cheese with its delicate, soft inner texture. Hard cheeses usually come in large round or drum-shaped heads, because it is more convenient to stack them in the cellars. But improvisations, sometimes even very successful ones, have not been canceled. This applies to the forms of cheeses in the first place. In practice, it also happens that a change in the shape of the head leads to a change in the taste of the cheese.

And now - a little more about some of the most popular varieties of soft French cheese.

Brie cheese refers to soft, it is prepared from cow's milk. Named after the French province of the Île-de-France region. It has a pale, grayish hue and is covered with white mold. The taste of young brie is very soft and delicate, and as it matures, it becomes sharper. The heads are shaped like discs or "cakes". Their diameter is, as a rule, from 30 to 60 cm, and the thickness is from 3 to 5 cm. The cheese is the sharper, the thinner it is. Brie de Meux and Brie de Melin, named after small towns near Paris, are subject to AOC certification. In different countries, numerous varieties are made, including regular brie, and with the addition of herbs, and even double or triple brie. For the production of some varieties, not only cow's milk is used, but also other types of milk.

Saint-Nectaire cheese refers to soft, prepared from cow's milk. The ripening period is from 5 to 8 weeks. The aroma of cheese is fruity, the taste is slightly salty, nutty with spicy notes. The crust is firm with the aroma of straw and oats. The shape of the head is a flat cylinder with a diameter of 21 cm, a height of 5 cm, and a weight of 1.7 kg. The cheese is AOC certified.

Reblochon cheese refers to soft cow cheeses. It is prepared in the Savoie region, at the foot of the Alps. The cheese has the natively controlled name AOC. A feature of the preparation of cheese is that after pressing it is washed in brine - this is cheese with a “washed rind”. The head has the shape of a circle with a diameter of 14 cm, a height of 3-4 cm, and a weight of 450 g. There is also a mini version, which is 9 cm in diameter and weighs up to 280 g. The ripening period is from 2 to 4 weeks. The ripened cheese has a soft, creamy inside, and an orange rind with a thin white coating on the outside.

Camembert cheese refers to soft cow cheeses. Produced in the province of Normandy. The pulp inside is tender, creamy, ranging from white to light creamy in color. The outside of the cheese is covered with a crust of fluffy white mold. Camembert is very fatty, its taste is rich, spicy, very piquant, has pronounced mushroom notes. Supplied for sale in wooden veneer packages. Camembert is made with heads in the form of a disk with a diameter of 11.3 cm, a thickness of 3.1 cm and a weight of 340 g.

Coeur de chevre cheese It's a soft goat cheese. Its heads traditionally have the shape of a small heart weighing about 150 g. The cheese ripening period is from 1 to 5 weeks. Its flesh is very tender and has small inclusions of mold. Depending on the degree of maturity, the color ranges from white to bluish. The taste is delicate, slightly sour. Traditionally, heads of coeur de chevra cheese are wrapped in chestnut leaves.

Mont d'Or- soft cow cheese. It has ivory flesh and a thin yellow-orange rind. It goes on sale in wooden spruce or pine boxes, in which the process of their maturation continues. The “hoop” is not removed from the cheese even when served, as it gives it a characteristic taste and aroma. The heads of this cheese are flat and round, can be small or large. The crust is moist, has a golden or reddish color and a characteristic checkered pattern - fabric prints, the inside is liquidish, spicy with a slight sourness.

Epuas- soft cow cheese, the ripening period of which is from five to eight weeks. The heads are disc-shaped and come in large ones weighing up to 1.1 kg and small ones weighing up to 350 g. This cheese is also AOC certified. Produced in the departments of Côte d'Or, Yonne and Haute-Marne. It is a cheese with a washed rind: during the ripening process, it is rubbed with brackish water, and then with brandy water, which gives it a reddish-orange color and makes it glossy. The pulp of the cheese is creamy, light beige in color, the taste is delicate and piquant, the aroma is quite strong. Cheese is eaten with a dessert spoon, cut into quarters.

Legendary, the oldest soft cow in Europe muenster cheese It is made in the form of heads of a flat cylindrical shape. The cheese is ready after 21 days of aging. Every three days, the heads are turned over and wiped with brackish water, due to which red enzymes form on their surface. They give the crust a yellowish to red brick hue. The pulp is elastic, has a light yellow color and small holes. The taste is spicy, quite powerful. The aroma is very peculiar, with herbal notes. Large heads weigh up to 500 g, small - up to 150 g.

Cheese pon l'evek

Pont l'Eveque It is a soft cow's cheese with a washed rind. It traditionally has a square shape, which distinguishes it from other Normandy cheeses. It is a brick in size, the side of which is 10-11 cm, height - 3 cm, weight - up to 400 g. Such cheese ripens from 2 to 6 weeks. Delicate creamy flesh of pale yellow color is covered with a white-orange crust. The cheese has a rich, slightly salty taste, similar to cream or cottage cheese. There is a taste of hazelnuts, there is a long sweet aftertaste. Its aroma is pungent and strong.