Camembert
Camembert is an iconic French cheese made from cow's milk; it is, along with brie and roquefort, probably the most famous of the hundreds of cheeses made in France. Soft and moderately flavored, the purest camemberts are made in the Normandy region of France from raw, unskimmed, and unpasteurized milk. Although camembert is now produced all over France, only those cheeses that meet rigid govenment standards are allowed to be sold with the coveted A.O.C. (Appellation d'Origin Controlée) certification on them. Although similar cheeses had probably been made in the region for centuries earlier, it was only around 1790 that a local farmer's wife, a certain Madame Harel, supposedly perfected the technique by which they are still made. [1] A statue in her honor has been erected in the small village of Camembert, financed, ironically, by an American admirer of the cheese.
The process of making camembert is similar to that employed for the larger and somewhat milder brie, but the micro-organisms of the two cheeses are different. "Like Brie", says the 1961 edition of the Larousse Gastronomique, "its crust must be a yellowish-orange without any black streaks. The cheese must be pale yellow, smooth and without holes. It must not be runny." [2] Today, however, with more standardized procedures in place and a better understanding of the mold process, a perfect camembert is now expected to have a mostly white rind. One authoritative cheese book says that, "The shape should be intact, and the rind covered in white mold, with reddish stripes and stains. The pâte should be creamy yellow, supple and give slightly to finger pressure. There should be a light smell of mold and the taste may be too salty at times. The locals prefer Camembert moitié affiné — half and half — when the filet or heart is still white and not yet creamy."[3]
To obtain the A.O.C. certification,."Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag The milk must come from cows in Normandy that have been fed under certain conditions and must be ladeled in four separate layers into round molds that are between 10 and 11 centimeters in depth. [4]
Total production of camembert in France in 2006 was 112,000 tons, most of it mass produced from pasteurized milk; only 12,000 tons made in the traditional process in Normandy were accorded the A.O.C. Today, the two largest producers of manufactured camembert, Lactalis and Isigny Sainte-Mère, are petitioning the National Institute for Origin and Quality to accord their cheeses A.O.C status in spite of their being produced with new techniques of "thermizing" and "microfiltration." [5]
Because A.O.C. camemberts are aged less than 60 days, the Food and Drug Administration does not allow them to be imported into the United States; only those raw-milk cheeses that have been aged longer than two months can be imported. [6] Camemberts, however, are typically aged from three to four weeks only.
References
- ↑ Larousse Gastronomique, Paul Hamlyn, London, 1961 edition, page 237
- ↑ Larousse Gastronomique, Paul Hamlyn, London, 1961 edition, page 237
- ↑ French Cheeses, Eyewitness Handbooks, DK Publishing, New York, 1996, page66
- ↑ New York Times article "If Rules Change, Will Camembert Stay the Same?", "Dining Out" section, pages D1 and D4, Wednesday, June 20, 2007 [1]
- ↑ New York Times article "If Rules Change, Will Camembert Stay the Same?", "Dining Out" section, pages D1 and D4, Wednesday, June 20, 2007
- ↑ New York Times article "If Rules Change, Will Camembert Stay the Same?", "Dining Out" section, pages D1 and D4, Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Sources
- Larousse Gastronomique, Paul Hamlyn, London, 1961 edition
- New York Times article "If Rules Change, Will Camembert Stay the Same?" in "Dining Out" section, Wednesday, June 20, 2007
French Cheeses Eyewitness Handbooks, DK Publishing, New York, 1996