French Camembert

This is a soft, creamy French cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Normandy in northwestern France. Cows from Normandy enjoy the ideal climate for producing great milk. The damp, mild climate and rich volcanic soil produces lush grass and herbs

French Camembert is made from unpasteurized cow's milk, and is ripened by the moulds Penicillium candida and Penicillium camemberti for at least three weeks. It is produced in small rounds, about 250 grams in weight, which are then typically wrapped in paper and packaged in thin wooden boxes.

When fresh, it is quite crumbly and relatively hard, but characteristically ripens and becomes more fluid and strongly flavoured as it ages. The cheese can be used in many dishes, but is also popularly eaten uncooked on bread or with wine or meat, to enjoy the subtle flavour and texture which does not survive heating. It is usually served at room temperature. It’s aged for just two or three weeks and is at its best thirty or thirty-five days after it’s made; this stage of perfect ripeness and ideal eating quality is called “a point”

The cheese was reputedly invented in 1791 by Marie Harel, a farmer from Normandy, thanks to advice from a priest who came from Brie. However, the origin of the cheese known today as French Camembert is more likely to rest with the beginnings of the industrialization of the cheese-making process at the end of the 19th century. In 1890, an engineer, M. Ridel invented the wooden box which was used to carry the cheese and helped to send it for longer distances, in particular to America where it became very popular. These boxes are still used today.
Before fungi were properly understood, the colour of the rind was a matter of chance, most commonly blue-grey, with brown spots. From the early 20th century onwards the rind has been more commonly pure white, but it was not until the mid-1970s that pure white became standard.

French Camembert was famously issued to French troops during World War I, becoming firmly fixed in French popular culture as a result. It has many other roles in French culture, literature and history. It is now internationally known, and many local varieties are made around the world.
The Camembert de Normandie was granted a protected designation of origin in 1992 after the original AOC in 1983.