Selection of Normandy Cheese!

France in general has around 350-400 types of cheese, 40 or so are trademarked.  Above is a photo of a few of the cheeses made in the Normandie region, which I currently am living in.   You can get some of these cheeses delivered to your house, because obviously 99% of the U.S. stores or markets don't have any of these wonderful cheeses.  So here is a description of these particular cheeses, which are sorted by number on the photo.

1.  Boursin :  Boursin is a brand, as opposed to a type of cheese.  It is a pasteurized and mix cow milk based cheese with garlic and fine herbs.  You can make some wonderful sauces with this type of cheese.

2.  Brillat-Savarin:  Triple-Cream cow's milk cheese, soft on the palate, 75% fat content, with a soft ripened crust.   Not aged for a long time, best eaten at around 12 days after production.  The crust is edible.

3.  Camembert de Normandie:  The most popular of the Normand cheeses.  Raw Cow's milk used to make this famous cheese, aged 6 to 8 weeks, with a soft ripened crust.   Made exclusively from milk of cows in the Normandy region.   Slightly odorous, white crust, with a sof and supple interior.  Crust is 100% edible and legend has it that the bacteria boosts the immune system.

4.  Pont L'éveque:  Named after the town of Pont L'Eveque in the Calvados, Normandy region.  Pont-l'Évêque is an uncooked, unpressed cow's milk cheese, square in shape usually at around 10cm square and around 1.5 inches high. The central pâte is soft, creamy pale yellow in color with a smooth, fine texture and has a pungent aroma.  Aged 4 to 6 weeks.  Edible crust.

5.  Demi-Sel:   Cheese made of Raw cow's milk,  salty and fresh texture, 40% fat.   Kind of like cream cheese in the United States.  But salty, obviously.


6.  Jort:  Another BRAND of cheese, most specifically a Camembert of Normandie.  See description above of texture. 


7.  Livarot:  It is a cheese made from cow's milk, soft washed rind, orange-colored, cylindrical in shape, surrounded from three to five strips of cattail stalks (Typha latifolia), dried and cut (paper strips are also used). These strips were originally used to firm the cheese during ripening.  Very pungeant and unpleasant scent, but wonderfully delicious.   I'm not sure if the crust is edible, but I don't think i'd eat it, because it is super pungeant.


8.  Saint-André:  It is a triple cream cheese made ​​from cow's milk, soft bloomy rind, 75% fat, weighing 200 grams, which is in the form of a cylinder of 6 cm in diameter and 5 cm high.

9.  Moulin de Carel:  Another popular BRAND of cheese, not kind of cheese, of the Camembert of Normandy family.

10.  Neufchâtel:   Another AOC protected style of popular French cheeses, in the shape of a heart.  It is a lactic cheese made ​​from cow's milk, soft bloomy rind, ripened at least 10 days, weighing 100 to 600 g depending on the format. The period of optimal tasting lasts from April to August after a refining of 8 to 10 weeks, but it is also excellent from March to November.  Legend has it that during the 100-Years-War, girls offered  British soldiers this heart-shaped cheese to show their love.  Edible crust.
 
11.  Pavé D'Auge:  A Precursor to the Pont L'Eveque, it is a cheese made from raw cow's milk, soft washed rind, 50% fat, which is in the form of a square of about 12 cm square and 6 cm thick, with an average weight of 500 grams.  It is a cousin of the Pont L'Eveque, with a considerably less pronounced taste.  Crust is edible.

12.  St. Paulin:  Brand of industrialized pasteurized cheese,  made from cow's milk, uncooked and pressed, with an average weight of 2 kg. It comes in stacks of 20 cm in diameter and 6 cm thick, characterized by a smooth orange rind and a soft interior, somewhat elastic, pale cream to pale yellow.  Best consumed after a period of 4 to 5 weeks.  I doubt the crust is edible, due to the interior and the packaging.


13.  Petit-Suisse:  Consistency very similar to cream cheese, unsalted, creamy consistency, based on cow's milk enriched with cream from cows, from 60 to 75% fat, with an average weight of 30 grams, presented in the form of a cylinder 5 cm high and 3 cm in diameter.  It can be eaten as a dessert,  with added jam, honey, etc.. or salted, with peppers with herbs. It is also used to stuff the poultry or the cover rabbit in certain dishes. Petit-Suisse mixed with mustard sometimes used to prevent them from drying out during cooking.

14.  Trappe de Bricquebec:   This cheese is produced from the mid-nineteenth century by the Trappist monks of the Abbey of Bricquebec in the Cotentin. It is a cheese made from uncooked pressed cow's milk , originally made ​​from raw milk and pasteurized, 45% fat, with an average weight of 250 grams, in the form of a small stack of 22 cm in diameter. The hatch is no longer manufactured by the monks, they have sold the brand to the Masters Dairy Cotentin, to focus on livestock, mainly pigs, and sausage-making.  Similar to the Saint Paulin.   Don't think the crust is edible due to the packaging and the texture of the interior.


SOOOOOO there you have it, thanks to Wikipedia, the description of some of the cheeses in my Region of France.  It would take me days and days to post up the other 350-400 cheeses, but if you really want to find out about the rest of the cheeses, you can go to Wikipedia to find out the other Protected types of cheese that France makes.  Hope these cheeses make you hungry, like they did to me!