from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Camembert de Normandie
Camembert, France's
most Famous Cheese.
Camembert is a soft, 22% fat, cow's milk
cheese and when perfectly ripe it is creamy and spreadable, but not runny and
has a fresh mushroomy smell. Among the French Camemberts, those made with unpasteurized
milk are considered the very best, though from my experience there are plenty
of excellent French Camembert cheeses made with pasteurized milk. Only real
cheese addicts can tell the difference when two well-aged cheeses meet in a
blind tasting. Camembert’s rind is
natural (and edible) with a white to light brown color. When choosing Camembert from a restaurant’s
cheese tray or trolley the center should be soft, just beginning to bulge when
but not running. Any cheese that looks
hard or chalky should be left for the mice.
A light Camembert
President is one of France's largest industrial dairies.
The dairies that take pride in their
product age their cheese for it for at least 21 days before they sell it and
then you may find it on the supermarket shelves. Just pressing the cheese lightly in the
center will tell you if the cheese is ripe or needs more aging. An unripe Camembert will be firm when pressed
and bland when eaten. See the paragraphs
on choosing a Camembert later on in this post.
Preparing Camembert in the 19th century.
Louis Figuier. - Paris : Furne, Jouvet,
[1873-1877]
www.flickr.com/photos/fdctsevilla/4305560559/
On the Left a Camembert de Normandie On the right a generic French Camembert.
With the yellow AOP label.The
genuine without the label.
Article.
Camembert's name is
not protected.
Camembert is the most popular cheese in
France and around the world it is the most famous of all French cheeses.
However, the tiny village of Camembert in Normany (population 200) never got
around to changing its name, and so the cheese may be made anywhere in the
world. Among French Camembert cheese, the very best can be identified if you
read look for the yellow AOP label on the box.
The wording will also be precise "Camembert de Normandie" with
the Giveaway Yellow AOP label ( In Engish the same label will read PDO.
Only the supervised and inspected
unpasteurized milk Camembert from Normandy may be called the "Camembert de
Normandie AOP." Other French Camemberts may be made in Normandie
(Normandy) or elsewhere in France, but the exact wording will be different.
French AOP label
The Protected Designation of Origin
Camembert and Brie
Camembert is sometimes compared or
confused with Brie. When ripe, they have a
similar look; but, the flavor is very different with Brie being milder
and slightly creamier. The traditional Brie also comes in much larger sizes
than Camembert and so you'll either buy a triangular wedge of taken home a 2
-kilo (4.4lb) plus cheese.
A perfectly ripe Camembert.
Note the cheese is not runny, just beginning to bulge.
Photograph from Yay images and monkey business
Camembert on French menus:
Beignets de Camembert et sa Confiture de Myrtilles – Deep fried pieces of Camembert served
with bilberry jam.
Croustillants de Camembert Chaud, Poitrine Fumée, Pommes Grenailles, Noix, Tomates, Salade, Vinaigrette Balsamique – Crisply fried pieces of hot Camembert
served with smoked bacon, small new potatoes and a salad with walnuts, and tomatoes with a Balsamic vinaigrette.
A strawberry, arugula,
www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/2414771125/
Demi Camembert au Four et son Jambon Cru – Half of a baked Camembert served
with cured ham. Cured ham is sliced very thinly
and cannot be cooked; it would lose all its taste and texture; the ham will be
added just before serving.
Flammeküeche au Camembert (Fromage Blanc à
la Muscade, Crème Fraîche, Lardons, Camembert) – Flammeküeche is also called Tarte Flambée and very popular dish from the Alsace in the new (1-1-2016) super-region of the Grand Est. It is a rolled out,
very thin, pâte à pain, bread dough, covered with crème fraîche and a soft white cheese;
usually, the local cheese called
bibeleskaes, here flavored with nutmeg. To this
base will be added thinly sliced onions and lardons, smoked or fried bacon bits. Finally, for this menu listing the
Camembert cheese is added. (Flammeküeche/ Tarte Flambée may be on the menu with
many different cheeses including the region’s own Munster AOP cheese).
Cheese Fondue with
Camembert
Suprême de Pintade Parfumé à l'Andouille Sauce Camembert – Guinea fowl breast flavored with Andouille sausages, and served with a Camembert cheese
sauce. Andouilles are a pork and or veal tripe smoked sausage and not to
be confused with Andouillettes.
Buying your Camembert in a France
France has over 400 registered cheeses,
that's different types of cheese, not the number of manufacturers which is
probably ten times that number. The larger French supermarkets will have two
aisles devoted to cheese; then as you travel around France, the choice will
change with local producers having more space. But national favorites like
Camembert will be on sale everywhere.
Cheese in a French supermarket
And it goes on and on
www.flickr.com/photos/wheatfields/2860191707/
However, your Camembert, like other
cheeses, will not mature in a refrigerator; it will remain as you bought it and
slowly dry out. To age a cheese, you
need cool basement or a wine cooler. In winter a cold, but not freezing, garage
will do just as well.
To choose a Camembert, lightly press the
center through the wrapping, if it's hard or firm it is not ripe or even
close. If it's slightly springy, then we
are getting there, if it is soft, then it's ripe or close to it. Still, if you are in France choose to buy
your cheese in a Fromagerie, a cheese shop.
Fromageries offer educated
choices
Most fromageries have at least one member
of the staff with adequate English, and they sell cheeses like Camembert and
Brie by the day their customers plan to eat the cheese. The Camemberts offered will not have been
refrigerated; instead, they will have been kept in a temperature-controlled
room or cellar, and brought out as the cheese ripens. To take home a cheese
that will be ready in three days ask and that is what you will be offered. If
you want a Camembert that will be ready in ten days, ask.
Is non-pasteurized
cheese safe?
In
the European Union, you can take home cheese that has been made with non
pasteurized milk if it comes from France, but that not OK for the USA. Worry
not, Camembert is also made with pasteurized milk, and when that is written on
the box, you can take that cheese back to the USA. So look for the box with the words
"Fabrique au Lait Pasteurisé," made with pasteurized milk. N.B. All good fromageries vacuum-pack
cheeses for travel.
For more about buying cheese in France
and taking it home, read the post: Buying Cheese in France. Bringing French
Cheese Home and a Lexicon for buying French Cheese.,
Buy your cheese in a fromagerie
Photograph courtesy of Kent Wang
Camembert Labels:
Camembert au Lait Cru – Camembert made with unpasteurized milk. If a French shop or
supermarket is making is this claim, make sure that they are offering a
Camembert de Normandie AOP, that is the best.
Normandie Camembert AOP will be clearly written on the packaging.
Camembert au Lait Cru Moulé à la Louche – More supermarket or cheese shop
advertising! This describes a Camembert
cheese made with unpasteurized milk and prepared using a unique cheese ladle.
Those other words, moulé à la louche, molded on the ladle, may make you feel
that you are being offered something unique but do not pay more for it. All
French unpasteurized Camembert cheeses are made this way anyway!
The AOP initials on
Camembert de Normandie
The French AOC initials on the labels of
many French foods and wines have protected the name, origin, and method of
manufacture of many these products, for nearly 80 years and Camembert for almost
40. These French initials are now replaced by the Pan-European AOP which gives similar protection to the
European consumer for all food products as the European Union. In November 2019 there will be changes in the
way the AOP Camembert de Normandie and other Camemberts may be labeled. Not that these new regulations will make
things any clearer. For more about the AOC and the change to AOP on French
foods click here,
For more about the new French wine labels
and the AOC, AOP, IGP and Vin de France on French wines, click here.
The village of
Camembert
Camembert's history began just outside
the village of Camembert in the department of Orne, Normandy. Despite the village's fame it still has less
than 200 inhabitants. According to tradition, Camembert cheese was created by a
Ms. Marie Harel, the owner of a farm just outside the village. This was at the
end of the 18th century, during the French revolution. The classic tale
includes a priest who helped Ms. Harel in the creation of the cheese. In
return, Ms. Harel hid the priest from the revolutionaries. Despite the tradition Camembert cheese
probably pre-dates Ms. Harel by a few hundred years.
Vimoutiers the town, the promoter, and the protector of Camembert.
Close to the village of Camembert 3km, (2
miles) away, is the small, but bustling town of Vimoutiers with just under
5,000 inhabitants. Vimoutiers has taken
over the responsibility for merchandising Camembert de Normandie AOP. The town has erected two statues: one in
memory of Marie Harel and the second for the Viking and now the Norman Cow.
The statue of Marie
Harel in Vimoutiers.
The town of Vimoutiers has a french-language website that offers a small amount of information in
English. You will get more details if
you use the French site with the Google or Bing translation apps.
The Statue of the
Norman cow (Ratisfaite), in Voimoutiers
(The cow is named, for a reason I have never found Ratisfaite).
To assure that visitors to Vimoutiers are
only offered the best Camembert cheese, there is a very active Confrérie. The Confrérie des Chevaliers
du Camembert is the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the Knights of the Camembert. These gallant
knights promote the Camembert de Normandie AOP and do battle with all the
pasteurized milk versions of their beloved cheese.
A Camembert Fabrique en Normandie AOC.
It is not easy being a Knight of the
Camembert as they have to work alongside another confrérie which guards the
tradition of a True Normand. A True Normand is a glass of Calvados, or sometimes a Calvados sorbet offered at least once during a
traditional Norman meal. After too many True Normands the Knights of the
Camembert may lose their jobs, When
visiting Vimoutiers, you quickly realize that there is a great deal of activity
at the dinner table among those who enjoy real Pays d’Auge Norman cuisine.
Of course, in the spirit of the place, you must include Camembert in the cheese
course and one of the three Calvados apple brandies. Later you should choose an aged
Napoleon Calvados as your digestif.
The Knights of Camembert also have to dress up in would be ancient
costumes.
Confrérie des Chevaliers du Camembert.
Vimoutier’s fairs
and markets.
In April Vimoutiers has an Easter Fair
where everything from the region is on sale. In October they celebrate the Foire
de la Pomme, their apple fair promoting the regions apple juice, ciders, Pommeau,
and Calvados apple brandies. The small Musee du Camembert, the Camembert Museum shows a film on the production of
camembert and for an additional small donation offers a taste of Normandy’s
four AOP cheeses Camembert AOP, Livarot AOP, Pont l'Evêque AOP, and Neufchâtel
AOP.
Camembert de Normandie AOP cheeses and
other local cheeses, cider, and Calvados are on sale at Vimoutiers farmers’
markets on Monday afternoons (2 pm - 6 pm) and Friday morning (8.30am – 1 pm),.
Normandy’s milk,
cream, butter, and cheeses.
Camembert is one of Normandy’s four AOP
cheeses; the others are Livarot AOP, Pont l'Evêque AOP, and Neufchâtel AOP. As may be expected with so much
butter and cream coming from Normandy they are all cow’s milk cheeses. When you
visit Normandy you will find many local cheeses in the cheese shops and on the
cheese trolley; these are cheeses that not have the production for national
sales but are a joy when first encountered.
Normandy is also the source of one of France’s
three AOP butters the Beurre d'Isigny AOP and the only AOP crème fraiche, the Crème d’Isigny Crème Fraiche AOP.
Along with butter comes Norman AOP cider, Pommeau de Normandie AOP and three Calvados AOP apple brandies
Join the annual
Paris - Camembert Europe Tour bicycle race.
The Paris to Camembert bicycle race.
If you are a Camembert aficionado, and
also a competitive cyclist, join the annual Paris - Camembert Europe Tour
bicycle race. The Paris - Camembert is a
one-day pro-cycling 200 km (124 miles)
race held on the second Tuesday of April every year. To watch the race note
that the Paris-Camembert race no longer begins in Paris or ends in Camembert;
the start and finish points change annually.
Use the Google or Bing translate apps to check route using the race’s
French-language website for the Paris - Camembert Europe Tour bicycle race
Camembert’s wooden
boxes
There is a threat to the traditional
wooden Camembert boxes, the cheaper options already come in cardboard.
France is facing a shortage of poplars, the tree from which comes the wood to
make the packaging of this famous cheese. The poplar also supplies the wood for
fruit crates and other boxes. Since 2015 the industry is, supposedly,
planting the poplar, which is a profitable and environmentally friendly tree,
in numbers that can keep up with the demand.
-------------------------
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010,
2013, 2017, 2019
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