Skip to content
3 Shares

In summertime, I follow Parisians who’re making a mass exodus from the city. We scurry from the city, jamming crowded autoroutes and packing the train stations. The city offers few trees or shade, and the sunlight reflecting off the white buildings means little respite from the withering heat no matter how hard you look-and there’s only so much icy-cold rosé that I can drink!

So I often make weekend trips to the village of Coulommiers, where there’s a lively outdoor market selling the most famous cheese in the world: Brie.
Brie is not a town, but a region to the east about one hour away by car or train. The sunday market in Coulommiers is one of my favorites because no where else in the world will you find so many cheese vendors selling all kinds of Brie, many unavailable anywhere else.

brieatmarket.jpg

There are two true Brie cheeses. The classic is Brie de Meaux (Bree-du-Mohw), about 14-inches across, each disk weighing approximately 5 pounds. Brie de Melun (Brie-du-Meh-Lahn) is slightly smaller, a tad higher, and doesn’t ripen all the way to make a creamy pâte, like Brie de Meaux. Often you’ll cut open Brie de Melun and discover a drier layer of underripe cheese in the middle (at left). These cheeses have the most superb flavor in the late spring-to-early summer, when the cows feast on mustard blossoms, giving the cheese a musty, complex flavor and slight golden tinge.

2bries.jpg

Brie de Melun is aged longer than Brie de Meaux. It has a firmer texture and many aficionados prefer it because of it’s stronger and more aggressive flavor. Both cheeses can be made with raw or pasteurized milk, although I prefer the raw versions, which are rarely available in the United States due to regulations in the US (where you’re allowed to drive at high-speeds on freeways while talking on a cell phone and drinking a giant latté, but prohibited from eating cheese that has been prepared the same way for centuries.)

These two Brie cheeses are AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) as of 1990, a product designation given by the French authorities, which states that these specific cheeses meet certain criterion for heating, coagulating, and salting the milk, the subsequent ripening, as well as being fabricated within the specific region. Most cheeses you’ll find labeled Brie are not a true Brie unless the AOC label is affixed to the exterior. (Which was recently changed to AOP.) In the US, you’ll only find it at a specialty cheese store…if you’re lucky to find it at all. In France, a notable exception is Brie de Nangis, which is a young, milder Brie from the region but does not carry the AOP label, but it’s good. The AOP designation has also been given to 34 cheeses as well as other products like the tasty green lentils from Puy, Haricot Tarbais (the dried beans used to make cassoulet), and the free-range Poulet de Bresse.

Although AOC is often a sign of quality, other products don’t carry the appellation, since they may be made in a neighboring region, or a slightly larger size, or stirred a few more times than the regulations allow during production. So as with anything, let your nose and the taste be your guide. No matter where you live, always seek out a good cheese shop and ask the fromager for advice: they’re a wealth of knowledge and should be proud of their cheeses and happy to help you.

Coulommiers is another excellent cheese from the region, and not AOP. It’s a smaller round, about 6-inches in diameter, and not widely known outside of France. Coulommiers has the same barnyard-like smell that is delectably appetizing in Camembert and indicative of a truly ripe Brie, but is a bit more pungent.

brienoirstacked.jpg

Locals in Brie are perhaps the only ones who have developed an appreciation for Brie Noir. Normally Brie cheeses are ripened for between one and two months. Brie Noir is ripened much longer, often 8 to 10 months. It’s such a regional specialty, and only appreciated by people of the region, that you’re likely never to see it anywhere else.

brienoir2.jpg

As you can see, Brie Noir is dark, brown, and crumbly. It’s covered with dusty powder and it tastes, well…horrid. After my first eagerly anticipated bite, I could not get the strong taste out of my mouth. It’s bitter and acidic. A friend from Coulommiers suggested I dip it into my café au lait at breakfast, which I suspiciously tried, which actually moderated the flavor and made it more palatable. Who knew?

Brie Q & A’s

But my supermarket cheese says Brie…isn’t that Brie?

Real Brie is almost always Brie de Melun or Brie de Meaux. Most of the other cheeses labeled ‘Brie’ are not true Brie. They often won’t ripen properly and taste worlds apart from real Brie.

Should you eat the rind?

The general rule for eating the rind of any cheese is that you may eat it as long as it won’t interfere with the taste or experience of the cheese. For example, something with a lot of mold growth obviously wouldn’t taste very good. A tough rind, like the rind of Parmesan, you wouldn’t want to eat either.

How do I cut Brie?

Think of any round wheel of cheese like a pie or cake. You should slice a triangular wedge out, so that you have a nice portion of cheese.
When presented with a full cheese plate to serve yourself, never cut the ‘nose’ off the cheese, the pointy end: It’s very bad manners!

Can I bring back raw milk cheese into the US?

That depends. Most of the time, I’ve found Customs Officers (oops…I mean ‘Department of Homeland Security’) officers will look the other way as long as you’re bringing in cheese that’s for personal consumption. Obviously if you have 60 wheels of Brie, you will likely get busted. Many fromageries in France will Cryo-vac (sous vide) cheese for transport to contain the fragrance, which I recommend. I once traveled with cheese in zip-top bags and by the end of the flight, the overhead bin totally reeked of cheese.
Luckily the other passengers were French…and for some reason, the US officials quickly waved me through customs.

3 Shares

8 comments

    • Richard AB

    Thats a great lesson on French Cheese. I am going to be careful next time I buy that Brie made in Canada (Brie du Canadien).

    One clarification, the border patrol that protects us from importing your raw milk cheese is the Department of Argiculture, not Homeland security. Homeland securtity would only be interested if I hid a weapon in my cheese…

    To clarify

    Customs – They make sure you don’t bring in too much Gucci or Prada

    Dept of Agriculture – They are on the lookout for sausages, cheeses or goats

    Homeland Security – Weapons of mass distruction or sausages big enough to be used as a weapon.

    • Michele

    oh the cheese, the beautiful cheese! Ive never heard of Brie Noir before. Dipping it in cafe au lait sounds weird enough to make me want to try it. I’ll keep an eye out for it and if I find it I’ll do my best to smuggle it into my local cafe. :)

    • Diva

    Great explanation to the mystery of Brie!
    Also, although one doens’t eat the rind of parmesan,
    Don’t throw it away!
    It is Edible.. I save mine and throw it in my minestrone, but is also fabulous grilled until it softens enough to eat with a knife and fork!

    Bon Appetito!

    • David

    I’ve heard of putting the rind in stock, but if you grill it, and it gets soft, can you eat the outside (where the writing is?) I wonder if you grilled Brie noir, if it would be palatable??

    david

    • Monica

    I like Brie, but being as I am in the U.S., I don’t know if I have ever had what you call “real” Brie. Thank you for this information as I will be checking for the AOC and the names Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun from now on. I have one question, though, which seems to be a sore spot between my sister and I. While I do not claim to be a great cook, I have experienced Brie in a baked form as well as in a room temperature form. I like it both ways. However, at my Thanksgiving Dinner when I served it as an appetizer at room temperature (and I thought it had a delicious taste to it) my sister very loudly proclaimed “Silly, didn’t you know Brie cheese is meant to be baked? It tastes like dirty socks when you don’t cook it!” This was very embarrasing for me and very rude of her. Of course I advised her that it could be either baked or room temp and that it tasted just fine that way. She indicated that I was being stupid and didn’t know what I was talking about because she was the “cook” in the family. So I ask you, as an expert on these things, what is the best and/or accepted way to eat Brie? Was it meant only to be eaten baked? Please advise.

    Thank you
    Monica J. in the U.S.A.

    • David

    Hi Monica:
    I don’t know any French person who would cook Brie. It’s meant to be enjoyed at room temperature, and quite soft. French people never eat cheese before dinner, always afterwards…either before dessert, or in place of it.
    In spite of what your sister said, I would imagine the cheese would be stinkier if baked. American brie-style cheeses are quite different than the true ones found in Europe too.

    • Georgina Scott

    Hi David,
    I have found numerous recipes and articles on Brie, but no firm advice on ripening it…
    Having just purchased two medium sized french brie (my petit cremerie). I have cut the first, only to find it stil unripe in the centre.
    I have stashed the whole one in my cheese fridge, but suffer conflicting advice on the cut one…..
    One lady suggests that a cut bries will not ripen, whilst another mentions tightly wrapping (it does not mention in what?) the bried and leaving at room temperature for 2-3 days….?
    Any enlightenment to be found within your knowledgable travels…?
    Many Thanks, Georgina (England)

    • Cecile G

    The idea of dipping the Brie Noir in coffee just reminded me of something my grandfather used to do, dip a piece of very sharp cheddar in hot black coffee to warm and soften it. Totally unrelated but I hadn’t thought of that in twenty years or so. Have just found you and your site, looking for info on Paris. Thanks for all the great tips and great writing.

A

Get David's newsletter sent right to your Inbox!

15987

Sign up for my newsletter and get my FREE guidebook to the best bakeries and pastry shops in Paris...