Echo Ridge Cheese

You come home from a market morning with a soft cheese in paper, and you want to know what you bought and how to serve it. Brie is a soft cow's milk cheese from France, pale inside under a white mould rind that you can eat, and this guide explains what that cheese is, how it is made, and how to tell when it is ready to eat.

What do you see when you look at Brie?

Brie takes its name from Brie, the French region from which it came, itself from Gaulish briga for hill or height, roughly corresponding to the modern department of Seine-et-Marne. It is pale in colour with a slight greyish tinge under a rind of white mould. The rind is typically eaten, and its flavour depends largely upon the ingredients used and its manufacturing environment. Brie typically contains between 60 percent and 75 percent butterfat, slightly higher than Camembert. Common flavour notes when you eat Brie are creamy, nutty, mushroom-like, and slightly acidic. Brie is a style of cheese, and it is not in itself a protected name, although some regional Bries are protected.

Why does the white rind matter for you?

You can eat the white rind, and you can use it to judge ripeness before you buy. Brie is produced as a wheel, and you may buy a segment or a whole wheel. The cheese is ready to eat when the outside is firm and the inside is slightly bouncy and resilient. Underripe Brie feels stiff to the touch. Overripe Brie turns creamier and almost runny, and it contains an unpleasantly excessive amount of ammonia, produced by the same microorganisms that ripened it. The cheese is sometimes served baked, which gives you a warm option when the centre is set but yielding.

How is Brie made before it reaches the shop?

Brie may be produced from whole or semi-skimmed milk. The curd is obtained by adding rennet to raw milk and warming it to a maximum temperature of 37 degrees C or 99 degrees F. It is then cast into moulds, sometimes with a traditional perforated ladle called a pelle à brie. The 20 cm mould is filled by successively adding thin layers, then drained for approximately 18 hours. The drained curd is taken out of the moulds, salted, inoculated with cheese culture such as Penicillium camemberti or Brevibacterium linens, and aged in a controlled environment for at least four or five weeks, generally five to six weeks. When you shop near Central Maine farms with dairy and creameries you can ask how long a local soft cheese was aged, since time in the ageing room shapes texture.

What happens when Brie ages longer?

If the cheese is left to mature for longer, typically several months to a year, it becomes stronger in flavour, the paste turns drier and darker, and the rind also turns darker and crumbly. That cheese is called Brie noir, or black Brie. Brie de Melun is also available in the form of Old Brie or black Brie. Pasteurisation is required in the United States and Australia, and not in most of Europe, so the milk treatment can differ by country even when the style looks familiar on the counter.

How do Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun differ?

The French government officially certifies only two types of Brie, Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, and both received AOC status in 1980. Brie de Meaux is an unpasteurised round cheese with a diameter of 36 to 37 cm and a weight of about 2.8 kg. It has been manufactured in the town of Meaux in the Brie region of northern France since the 8th century; it was originally known as the Queen cheese, and after the French Revolution as the queen of cheeses, and it was eaten by all social classes. It is produced primarily in the eastern part of the Parisian basin. You can compare those details with the history and making of Brie if you want dates and measures in one place. Brie de Melun has an average weight of 1.5 kg and a diameter of 27 cm, smaller than Brie de Meaux. It has a stronger flavour and more pungent smell, and it is made with unpasteurised milk.

What other Bries can you find beyond those two?

There are now many varieties of Brie made all over the world, including plain Brie, herbed varieties, double and triple cream Brie, versions made with other types of milk, and some smoked varieties. Although Brie is a French cheese, it is possible to obtain Somerset and Wisconsin Brie. French non-AOC Bries named on the page include Brie de Montereau, Île de France, Brie de Nangis, Brie de Provins, Brie noir, Brie fermier, Brie d'Isigny, Brie de Melun bleu, Brie petit moule, and Brie laitier Coulommiers. International Bries include King Island Dairy in Australia, Jindi Cheese in Victoria, Cornish Brie and Somerset Brie in the United Kingdom, Baron Bigod made in Suffolk, Cenarth Brie made in Wales, Morangie Brie made in the Highlands of Scotland, Connage Clava Brie made in Scotland, Marin French Cheese Company in California, Kolb Lena in Illinois under the brands Alouette, Delice de France and Dorothy, Wicklow Ban Brie, St Killian Brie and Organic Irish Brie in Ireland, and Mainland and Grinning Gecko styles in New Zealand.

How can you buy and serve Brie for a table?

Buy a segment for a small table or a whole wheel when several people will share, and remember that the white rind is edible. Check firmness with a light touch, look for an outside that holds its shape with an inside that gives back gently, and pass over a piece that looks stiff or one that sags and smells strongly of ammonia. A thirty-gram serving of Brie contains about 420 kJ or 100 kcal of food energy and 8.4 g of fat, of which 5.26 g is saturated fat, and a serving can provide 5 to 6 g of protein, with a good amount of both vitamin B12 and vitamin B2. If you plan a Sunday shop, the Belgrade Lakes Sunday market guide and season calendar helps you time cheese, bread, and fruit in one trip.

How do you keep a soft cheese safe at home?

Brie is a soft cheese, which allows rapid widespread growth of bacteria and moulds if the cheese is not stored correctly, and soft cheeses such as Brie should be kept refrigerated. The optimal storage temperature for Brie is 4 degrees C or 39 degrees F or even lower. Keep the cheese in a tightly sealed container or tightly wrapped in wax paper or plastic wrap to avoid contact with moisture and food spoilage bacteria, which will reduce the shelf life and freshness of the product. Cheese producers specify a best-before date, and the quality of the cheese will degrade beyond then. Cheese with blue or green mould may not be safe to eat, and the mould may also have spread invisibly to apparently unaffected parts.

How does Brie compare with Camembert?

Brie originates from the Île de France while Camembert comes from Normandy. Traditionally, Brie was produced in large wheels, 23 to 37 cm in diameter, and thus ripened more slowly than the smaller Camembert cheeses, although they both ripen from the outside in. Brie ripens in a cellar or cave while Camembert ripens on shelves or frames. When sold, Brie segments typically have been cut from the larger wheels, although some Brie is sold as small, flat cylinders, and therefore its sides are not covered by the rind. By contrast, Camembert is ripened as a small round cheese 10 cm in diameter by about 3 cm thick and fully covered by rind. This ratio change between rind and paste makes Camembert slightly stronger when compared with a Brie ripened for the same amount of time. Once the rind is cut on Camembert, the cheese typically has a more pungent aroma than Brie does. In taste, Camembert is stronger, slightly sour, and sometimes chalky. The texture of Camembert is softer than that of Brie, and if warmed, Camembert will become creamier, whereas Brie warms without losing as much structure. Ask the counter at Crooked Face Creamery for Jersey cheese guidance to cut a wedge to order, carry it home cold, and serve it when the outside is firm and the centre feels gently resilient under your finger.