The King of Cheese: Brie
Written by Asinus Asinum Fricat on May 16, 2008 – 7:30 am -Brie is a historic region southeast of Paris most famous for its Brie cheese. Did you know it was once divided into two sections ruled by different feudal lords? Brie française, corresponding roughly to the modern département de Seine-et-Marne in l’Île-de-France région (Paris basin) and Brie champenoise, forming a portion of the modern département du Marne in the historic region of Champagne (part of modern-day Champagne-Ardenne). Such is the power of cheese!
Brie is a soft cow’s milk cheese. It is pale in color with a slight greyish tinge under crusty white mold; very soft and savory with a hint of ammonia. The white moldy rind is edible (actually, it’s quite healthy to eat it).
In addition to plain Brie, there many varieties of Brie made all over the world, including herbed varieties, double and triple crème varieties and versions made with other types of milk. Brie is perhaps the most well-known French cheese (although Camembert people would strongly object to my pronouncement), and is popular throughout the world. Despite the variety of Bries, the French government officially certifies only two types of Brie to be sold under that name: Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun.
Brie de Meaux made in the city of Meaux, southeast of Paris since le VIII ème siècle, was originally known as the “King’s Cheese” (later, following the French Revolution, the “King of Cheeses”) and was enjoyed by the peasantry and nobility alike. It was granted the protection of AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) status in 1980. Brie may be produced from whole or semi-skimmed milk. The curd is obtained by adding rennet to raw milk and heating it to a maximum temperature of 37°C. The cheese is then cast into molds, sometimes with a traditional perforated ladle called a pelle à brie. The 20 centimetre mold is filled with several thin layers of cheese and drained for approximately 18 hours. The cheese is then taken out of the molds, salted, inoculated with cheese mold (Penicillium candidum, Penicillium camemberti and/or Brevibacterium linens) and aged in a cellar for at least four weeks. That is why it’s not cheap.
The region in France that gave its name to this cheese (Brie) is, in the French language, feminine: la Brie, but French products take the gender of their general category; in this case Cheese, le fromage, is masculine, and so the cheese is also masculine, le Brie.
According to legend, during le VIII ème siècle, Charlemagne had his first taste of Brie cheese, and immediately liked it. Because the favorites of the kings and rulers often become the favorites of the people, Brie has become perhaps the most famous French cheese. Another diary to come: my other favorite, Rocquefort…and then something on goat cheese too!
Tags: , Brie Cheese, Food
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12 Comments
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Yum! I love Brie…with fruit, on bread, on my fingers, anyway I can eat it!
I have found that the brie-wannabes made in America or elsewhere, although many of them are pretty good cheeses, don’t have quite the hint of mold/decay that gives real Brie its special flavor.
I suppose it’s the mold. I did not know that there was a Brie-specific penicillin. There are many good things in the world I don’t know but am learning here!
It’s all good!
I will be having brie and peaches later today. My favorite cheese bar none.
Yesterday’s peaches and today’s brie! Good combo.
My thought also. I just bought some peaches grown in California. Maybe we don’t grow peaches here.
My favorite lunch when I lived in France was what we (my British coworkers and I) called the Three Bs: Brie, beurre et biscotte. We were young. We didn’t mind about the cholesterol.
I still adore brie, though I don’t gild the lily with butter anymore!
Thank you for clearing up my mental confusion about the gender of the term, too.
Butter is not that fattening if eaten in moderation. Same as cream.
Nothing is that fattening eaten in moderation. I’m just not that moderate a person at heart.
Brie is one of those dangerous things that I will eat past the point of sanity. Especially baked brie, but really, any brie will do. Something about it disagrees violently with my digestive system, so I pay dearly any time i eat it, but if it is nearby, eat it I shall.
And Texas peaches are the best. I got an e-mail from my little grocery store that the peaches are in. Must go soon, or they will have all been snatched up.
Brie is, hands down, my favorite cheese.
Unfortunately, it’s also hard to come by in these parts, although my appetite is somewhat whetted by the sheer abundance of goat cheeses.
*When* (note: not if, but *WHEN*) I get my new house, I’ll be living a mere two miles from an entirely new farmers’ market. I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of fare is offered there, and whether it differs from the things I can grub around here. I know it’s smack in the heart of peach and pecan country. Then, if you go 60 or so miles south, there’s an Italian family that makes an outstanding farmer’s cheese - omg, it’s good - and there’s wineries (?). Here, it’s all goat cheese and okra and melons and omg BERRIES.
So maybe, just maybe, I’ll discover new cheesemakers and some variety that takes me nearer to brie.
I much prefer a very sharp Cheddar, a good Stilton, or even a good sheep Roquefort. Brie is just a bit too bland for me, but, hey, if you like it, who am I to criticize you? Warmest regards, Doc.
Then you’ll be pleased with my piece on Roquefort which will be posted this afternoon.