Showing posts with label Brie de Melun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brie de Melun. Show all posts

Chaource AOP; One of France's Greatest Cheeses.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
 

 
 

               

Chaource AOP cheese

Chaource AOP is a 24.5% fat, cow's milk cheese and, when ripe, is creamy but not easily spreadable. It has a taste somewhat similar to a Brie, but a different texture, and that's what makes it unique. Chaource has an edible rind, and most farm-produced cheeses are made with unpasteurized milk, with dairies producing pasteurized versions. Similarities to Brie exist as they do in other cheeses like Coulommiers, but it is Chaource's different texture that makes the final taste quite different. 

New Chaource cheeses beginning their maturing process.

Aging Chaource

The cheese is matured for a minimum of two weeks before being sold. Then it will be allowed to age in the cool cellars of the better fromageries and cheese shops for another 14 days. When you buy this cheese, the center should be slightly soft and yield to the light pressure of a finger. In a fromagerie, you may request a cheese that will be ready for the same evening or a cheese that will be ready in ten days or two weeks. Chaource cheeses are available in small wheels weighing from 250 – 500 grams and from 8 - 10 cm high. For more about buying cheese in France and taking it home, click here.

The history of the Chaource cheese.

It is generally accepted that Chaource cheese originated with the monks in the Abbey of Pontivy in Yonne, Burgundy, in the 15th century; this was long before the French Revolution and France's modern departments and administrative regions. The cheese was sold at the market in the village of Chaource, in the department of Aube; it was from this village the cheese took its name. Chaource is just 44 km (27 miles) from the Abbey of Pontivy. Today the production of Chaource is divided between the departments of Aube and Yonne. 

The village of Chaource and getting there

The pretty village of Chaource, from whence the cheese took its name, has just over 1,000 inhabitants. Just over 50% of the cheese production comes from farms and dairies around the village. Paris to Chaource via a TGV fast takes about two hours, it's 209 km (130 miles) by road, and outside of the rush hours when you may lose time getting out of Paris, it's just over two hours by car.


The village of Chaource.
Photograph courtesy of allispossible
www.flickr.com/photos/wheatfields/2860132005/

Chaource and its AOP

While the recipe for this cheese dates to the Middle Ages, until sixty years or so ago, it was just considered an excellent local cheese but rarely seen outside the area. Then came travelers, industry, and better roads and cheese gourmets. With the increase in demand, the farmers organized to ensure that the cheese was only made to agreed high standards. Finally, in 1986 the cheese Chaource received its AOC grading. There are over four hundred registered cheeses in France, but less than 70 have the right to an AOC; now, an AOP, label, and Chaource is one of those. For more about AOC and AOP grades and labels, click here.

Chaource on French menus:

     

Andouillette de Troyes AAAAA Sauce Chaource, Frites – The Andouillette de Troyes AAAAA sausages with a Chaource sauce and French fries. Andouillettes are one of France's favorite sausages made with pork or veal tripe and intestines. The name Andouillettes may sometimes be confused by visitors with another famous French sausage, the Andouille. At first glance, there would seem to be many similarities as both sausages are made with pork or veal tripe and intestines, but there the difference ends. Andouillettes have a very healthy bite and, for most visitors, are an acquired taste. The highly-rated Andouillette de Troyes AAAAA comes from the town of Troyes in the same department as Chaource and is just 30 km (19 miles) away. The AAAAA after the name indicates the Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Andouillette Authentiques, the Friendly Association of the Lovers of Authentic Andouillette sausages, AAAAA for short; it is a manufacturers' association.

   


Baked Macaroni, Chorizo, and Chaource Cheese
Photograph courtesy of Sainsbury's Magazine

 

Escargots Sauce Chaource – Six Petit-Gris snails served with a Chaource cheese sauce. There are two snails raised for the table in France; the larger and more expensive snail is the Burgundy snail, and if it were being served, its name would be on the menu. The smaller snail is called the Petit Gris, and they weigh approximately 10 grams each without their shell. This is still tasty, but a smaller snail is the one being served, and its size indicates that this will be a French entrée (the first course). Each snail weighs about 10 grams, so the serving will be approximately 60 grams (2 ounces).

 

Chaource et sa Petite Salade aux Noix – Chaource cheese served with a small green and walnut salad.

 

Côte de Cochon d'Antan Gratinée Au Chaource - A pork chop from free-range heirloom pigs served browned with a covering of Chaource cheese. Cochon d'Antan translates as pigs from yesteryear and will be a bread that is rarely seen today, and a question to the server may bring some interesting history. When Cochon d'Antan pork is on the menu, you know that you will be enjoying a rare treat. 

 


Mini Potato Gratins with Chaource Cheese
Photograph courtesy of Gourmandize – UK, Ireland

 

Dos de Cabillaud Sauce Chaource – Fresh cod served with a sauce made with Chaource cheese. Cod is a large fish, often over 10 kilos ( 22 lbs), so you will be served a fillet. Fresh cod from the Atlantic coast of France will rarely be seen; they have been overfished and are in danger. The fresh cod on your table will mostly come from the North Atlantic and flown in fresh or chilled. Fresh cod is one of the two most popular fish in France with rehydrated salted cod, also very popular in many modern and traditional dishes such as Brandade Nîmoise.

 

Salade de Chaource Chaud au Miel – A salad with warmed Chaource cheese served with honey. 

 

Tournedos de Boeuf et Son Coulant de Chaource – A thick cut from a beef fillet served with warm, running Chaource cheese. Only two steaks of the size required for the original tournedos can be cut from the fillet, and initially, they were cooked together and separated just before serving. Today, that will rarely be the case, but you should expect a 300-gram plus fillet steak. Tournedos, as cuts, trace their origins to the original Chateaubriand and Tournedos Rossini. For the post: Ordering a Steak in France, Cooked the Way You Like it, click here.


Truffled Chaource, Caramelized Pear with Lemon Confit
Photograph courtesy of City Foodsters
www.flickr.com/photos/cityfoodsters/16513755169/

The wines that pair well with the Chaource

If you drive into the area and see vineyards, the grapes growing are most likely those used for Champagne. Chaource is in Champagne country, and the larger Champagne houses are in Reims, only 155 km away ( 96 miles), and those of Épernay, 139 km (86 miles). 


Chaource and Champagne
Photograph courtesy of SFGATE

The village of Chaource is also just 43 km (27 miles) from Chablis in Burgundy, where I first tasted the cheese and then paired it with a Chablis' white wine. The small town of Chablis and the area around it is also an excellent place to enjoy the cuisine of Burgundy with Chaource on the cheese plate at the end. Enjoy with Chablis or optionally pair Chaource with Burgundy's excellent sparkling Crémant de Bourgogne. Other famous cow's milk cheeses in Champagne country include the Langres AOP and the Cendré de Champagne; both of these cheeses are also produced just over Burgundy's border.

The Chaource cheese museum.

The village of Chaource has a cheese museum, Musée du Fromage à Chaource, which is dedicated to this cheese alone; at the end of a visit, you are offered a tasting. The museum is open all year round but from November to March by appointment.


The cheese museum in Chaource
Photograph courtesy of allispossible org uk
www.flickr.com/photos/wheatfields/2868060439/

The Chaource cheese fete.

On the second Sunday in October, the village has a Fête de Fromage, its cheese fete. If you are in the area, you may enjoy demonstrations of cheese and butter making as well as tastings. N.B.: Always double-check the dates of fetes with the French Tourist Information Offices; dates do change.

The English language website for Chaource and the immediate area is:

http://www.tourisme-en-chaourcois.com/en/land-tasting/chaource-cheese

Visiting the area around Chaource.

The village of Chaource and the area around it are beautiful places to visit. To the north, just 15 km (9 miles) from the village, is the Parc Naturel Régional de la Forêt d'Orient, shades of the Knights Templar, who once owned the land upon which the park was created.

The park is extensive and covers over 750 sq km (290 sq miles); it includes lovely villages and lakes apart from areas covered with heavy forest. The park is a trendy vacation spot, and the lakes are centers for swimming and water sports. The lakes are also stocked with fish, making them very popular with amateur fishermen and women.

The park has a French-language website, but Bing and Google translate apps make it easily understood:

http://www.pnr-foret-orient.fr/fr/content/pnrfo

Visiting Chaource from Paris

If you stay in Paris and have access to a car, consider that a beautiful day trip can be a visit to Chaource. There are plenty of interesting and enjoyable stops along the way. For example, from Paris's drive to Melun, 45 km (28 miles) away, Melun is the home of one of the two AOP Brie cheeses. Then visit one of the two incredible Chateaus that are on your way. Choose the Château de Vaux le Vicomtewhich is just 10 minutes away, 6 km (4 miles) from Melun, or choose the Château de Fontainebleau, only 17 km (11 miles) away. After visiting either of the Chateaus for an enjoyable two-and-a-half to three-hour visit, have lunch in the area. It is just 145 km (90 miles), a pleasant one-and-a-half-hour drive to Chaource. The return drive to Paris is a two-hour drive.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman 
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com 
Copyright 2010, 2015, 2020, 2024 


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Brie: That Wonderful French cheese.
 
Buying Cheese in France. Bringing French Cheese Home and a Lexicon for buying French Cheese.
 
Cabillaud - Cod, the Fish. Cabillaud is Fresh Cod, Morue is Rehydrated Cod. Cod on French Menus. Cod is the Most Popular Fish in France.
 
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French Ciders, Including France's Fabulous Sparkling Ciders. 
 
Frites or Pommes Frites - French Fries in the USA and Chips in the UK. French Fries on French Menus.
 
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Brie: That Wonderful French cheese.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

      

Brie, the cheese.

Brie is a 27.5% fat, semi-soft, French cow’s milk cheese aged from six to ten weeks before sale and holds second place on the cheese world popularity stakes; camembert is number one. Brie and Camembert are both semi-soft cheese with similarities in their method of production and texture, but with clear differences in their tastes.
   
Candied pine nut and crusted brie salad.
www.flickr.com/photos/foodista/3694879890/
       
A brie may be eaten just as soon as it's sold, but if the cheese is very firm when pressed in the center that indicates it is not ripe.  A perfectly ripe brie will feel soft when pressed in the center and when it is cut it will show a slightly bulging center. When brie begins to run, it is over-ripe.
A ripe wedge of Brie de Melun.
www.flickr.com/photos/vialbost/8751715300
  
The origin of Brie's name.
    
Brie’s name comes from the historic French region called Brie Française, now part of the department of Seine-et-Marne in the Ile de France region next to Paris. That historic region gave its name to the cheese, which has its own history dating back to the Middle-Ages. The bread called Brié (note the accent over the é) is a bread from Normandy that has no connection to the cheese. For more about French bread click here.
  
Brie on French menus:

Brie Croustillant et Truffe Tuber Mélanosporum – A crisply baked brie served with the black Périgord truffle.

Entrecôte au Brie de Meaux – An rib-eye steak grilled with Brie de Melun.
    
Smoked salmon and brie.
www.flickr.com/photos/sfllaw/3225927554/
  
Escargots de la Butte de Marolles en Brie et sa Crème d'Ail Petit Gris snails from the respected Butte de Marolles snail farm prepared with brie and a Cream of garlic sauce.

Rôti Porc Farci au Brie De Melun – Roast pork stuffed with Brie de Melun.
   
Terrine de Brie de Meaux aux Herbes Fraiches et aux Noix, Sorbet Vinaigrette – A pot of Brie de Meaux mixed with fresh herbs and walnuts served with a vinaigrette sorbet.
    
Truite Poêlée au Brie Parfumé à l’Estragon Trout fried with brie and flavored with tarragon.
  
 
Brie and brie type cheeses are also made in other parts of France, though only two bries, the Brie de Meaux, and the Brie de Melun carry the Pan-European  AOP (AOC) label for their unique origin and method of manufacture. Both bries are still made in the historic Brie Française region with unpasteurized milk; pasteurized milk versions are available for export.  Despite their lack of AOP labels, there are other French bries and brie-like cheeses that are really excellent. 
      
Buying a Brie.
      
If you are considering buying a brie in France, to take home, be aware that it will not continue to ripen once it has been opened.  Go to a fromagerie, a professional cheese shop, and ask for a brie that will be ready in a day or two, or week, no longer.  Have the cheese vacuum-wrapped and when you get home keep it in the refrigerator, not the freezer.  Take the cheese out of the refrigerator an hour before serving; any brie left over should be wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator. The leftover brie should be served over the next few days as after that it will begin to dry out. For a lexicon on buying cheese in France and taking it home click here/
   
France’s two most famous Bries.
   
Brie de Meaux AOP
      
A whole Brie de Meaux weighs close to 3 kilos  (6.5 lbs), and its diameter is that of a large pizza,  approximately 36 cm (14 “), and  3 cm (1”) thick. If you are in France and a true brie lover, then visit the town for dinner as it is just 22 km (14 miles) from Euro-Disney and 55 km (34 miles) from Paris, 45 minutes by train. On the second Saturday in October join in the annual Fete de Brie de Meaux.
   
  
The annual Brie de Meaux celebration is held at the same time as the Autumn fair of Meaux; this celebration is organized by the Confrérie des Compagnons du Brie de Meaux, the brother, and sisterhood of the Companions of the Brie from Meaux.
  
   
Meaux is not only famous for its cheese but also for its old style mustard, entirely different to Dijon mustards. To check dates and see what else can be enjoyed in and around Meaux see the town’s French-language web site using Google translate or Bing translate at http://www.ville-meaux.fr/
     
Brie de Melun AOP
  
A whole Brie de Melun is a smaller cheese that the Brie de Meaux, but still weighs 1.7 kilos (3.75 lbs), and is four cms (1.6”) thick.   Meaux is just 18 km (11 miles)  from the Château de Fontainebleau and 42 km (26 miles) from Paris, 40 minutes by train. The town of Meaux celebrates their cheese on the first Sunday in October at their annual Fête du Brie de Melun organized by their confrérie, the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Brie de Melun, the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the Knights of the Brie from Melun.
    
Apart from tasting the cheese and other local products at their fete, many restaurants in the area will be offering brie centric menus. To check the dates and to see what else is in and around Melon use Google or Bing translate with the town’s French-language web site at www.ville-melun.fr.
   

Tasting Bries.
 
I was able to taste the two famous bries together; both were perfectly ripened, and incredibly they were served with a glass of white port. That was a uniquely enjoyable experience in an exceptional Parisian restaurant and cheese store.  Both are great cheeses and with their slightly different tastes, and I can only confirm that they are both excellent; neither can take second place. By the way, a brie’s rind may be eaten, it has a different taste and texture to the cheese but eating a small amount of rind will add to the enjoyment.

One note about brie tasting; any brie that smells of ammonia is stale and far past its sell-by date. That smell means the cheese is really off, send it back, or if at home, throw it in the bin, I don’t think that even mice will eat stale a brie.


There are other bries and brie-like cheeses made in France with the most famous being the Coulommiers’ cheese.  Coulommiers is often called the Petit Brie de Coulommiers, the Small Brie of Coulommiers, as the cheese’s taste may easily be mistaken for one of the two famous AOP Bries. Coulommiers like the two more famous bries is made in the historical region of Brie Française
The Coulommiers cheese.
       
The Coulommiers brie-like cheese comes in a thin wooden box with a 500 gram (1.1 lb) cheese. The box may make you think of a Camembert; however, the cheese tastes like brie and its box is clearly marked.

Taste many wines, cheeses and the best bries of France.
 
To taste all the best Bries and many other kinds of cheese visit Coulommiers during its four-day Foire aux Fromages et Vins, their wine and cheese fair. The fair has nearly 400 exhibitors with wines, many wonderful cheeses including all the best brie and brie-like cheeses. The fair begins on the 2nd Friday in April through the following Monday. This very popular fair is visited by over 60,000 people annually.
   
The route to the Chateau de Fontainebleau,
and Melun,Euro-Disney, Meaux, and Coulommiers.
© Google Maps.
  
Coulommiers is just 29 km (18 miles) from Eurodisney and  64 km  (40 miles)  from Paris and  1 hour and 20 minutes by train. Coulommiers is also just 28 km, (18 miles) from Meaux and 50 km (31miles) from Melun.
 
Brie cheeses around the world.

Brie cheeses, like many other French cheeses, are copied all over the world. After you have tasted a perfectly ripened brie in France, only then you may then judge where the best bries come from.
   
Tasmanian Heritage Double Brie Cheese

Bries like many other originally French cheeses have lost the  copyrights to their name; however, imported real French Bries are available in most countries when made with pasteurized milk and a good cheese shop should offer a well-ripened brie,

-------------------------------------

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2014, 2019


Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases
on
French menus?
 
Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" and search with Google. Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.
  
Related posts:

 
 
  
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 



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