on a saturday not long ago, i encountered ryan at the cheese board as i was about to leave. he was trying to decide which cheeses to purchase for some guests that evening. he pointed out the selles-sur-cher, a wonderful goat cheese. i suggested that if he liked that one, he should try the valencay.
"ummm," he said, and glanced about furtively. his voice dropped to a stage whisper. "have you ever tried the you know, unpasteurized cheeses?"
"oh yeah!" i replied enthusiastically. "i always buy unpasteurized." (i may have sounded a bit condescending.)
"aren't you worried about it?"
"that camembert de normandie from a couple weeks ago, and that... well, unpasteurized is all we've been feeding you, hon."
aaaah, the elusive camembert de normandie. readers, take note. if you every come across this cheese, buy it immediately. if you don't eat it, send it our way!
considered by jenkins to be the only real camembert, camembert de normandie is the only camembert worthy of the A.O.C. designation. i thought he was on crack, the way he kept going on about this cheese. when i asked the cheesemonger at the cheese shop in beverly hills if he had any, he said "no. those aren't allowed in the country." with a straight face. then he winked and grinned conspiratorally. of course, this only inflamed my desire to taste this cheese. a few weeks later, i stumbled across one, and purchased it immediately to find out what the fuss was all about. i was not disappointed. it comes in a round wooden box, and is swathed with paper inside. the rind is bloomy white, with slight beige mottling and the paste is straw colored. it smells like mushrooms, and it tastes like truffles, mushrooms and garlic, with a hint of walnut and cedar. it is semisoft, very smooth, and slightly runny closer to the rind. i like to eat it straight up, in thin slices with pinot noir, and maybe apples. this would be another favorite, but it's so damn hard to find (y'know, with it being illegal and all).
what separates camembert de normandie from others is that it is artisan produced, meaning more care and time goes into its making. it is unpasteurized, and aged for less than sixty days (which is also why it is contraband. fie, fie, FDA!). pasteurization, unfortunately, robs many foods of flavor (try pasteurized v. unpasteurized orange juice. you'll see.) i suspect the heat kills the bacteria in the milk necessary to give the cheese it produces a fuller flavor in its ripening stage. however, there are still many good pasteurized cheeses out there.
i've tasted other camemberts since, and sadly, i've found them to be just okay (unless smothered in pesto, wrapped with grape leave, then grilled over indirect heat - grilled cheese for sybarites!). i've managed to stumble across one more since that first time (i actually squealed and jumped up and down when i found it, earning looks of both puzzlement and understanding from fellow customers), but the last cheesemonger i asked told me that the regulations were getting tougher, and it was harder to sneak them in. if you manage to find one, buy it immediately. it was meant to be. make sure it says VCN (veritable camembert de normandie), A.O.C. (appellation d'origine controlee) and au lait cru (unpasteurized). don't be fooled by "fabrique au normandie" or "normandie camembert" - it's got to have those first three things. enjoy it - you're eating forbidden contraband cheese.
Posted by connie at July 14, 2003 11:45 PM | TrackBack