Brie De Meaux AOP (~3kg) (Cow) - Les Freres Marchand

Area: Ile-de-France, France
Milk: Raw cow’s milk
Type: Bloomy rind cheese
Weight: 2,9 kg
Fat: 20 % MFFB: 70%

Tasting advice
Brie is enjoyed at the end of meal, on a slice of cereal bread, with a bite of fresh green grape. It is also used to cook specialty dishes of the Brie region: galettes briardes (Brie cakes), bouchées à la reine au Brie de Meaux (a puff pastry traditionally filled with poultry and mushrooms, also called vol-au-vent)…

Wine pairing
Whereas it is often enjoyed with a full-bodied wine such as a Côtes du Rhône, a Pomerol, or a Pinot-Noir from Alsace, its best pair remains dry cider from Brie.

Appearance: white bloomy rind specked with reddish pigments, pale straw yellow color.
Texture: unctuous, supple but not runny.
Sense of smell: fully developed bouquet, with slight hints of fermentation.
Taste: ripe all the way through the middle, it develops a nutty flavor.

History
The Brie de Meaux was allegedly invented at the Abbey of Notre-Damede-Jouarre. Talleyrand (the French ambassador to England from 1830 to 1834) declared Brie de Meaux the “King of Cheeses” during the Congress of Vienna. Talleyrand had previously claimed that no cheese could stand up to Brie. Prince Metternich, an Austrian statesman, was upset that his Bavaria blue cheese had not received such honor. Thus, he decided to
organize a cheese tasting contest to conclude the closing banquet of the Congress, with fifty-two regional cheeses representing the countries that attended the Congress.
As the tasting contest came to an end, Prince Metternich himself proclaimed Brie de Meaux “King of Cheeses and Prince of Desserts”.

Fabrication
Claudine takes pride in perpetuating the traditional fabrication of her farmstead cheese. The milk is collected and processed within the same day.
The curds are hand-molded with a pelle à Brie (a Brie shovel), and subsequently dry-salted.
Maturation lasts for at least four weeks, a slow and regular process during which the cheese is delicately turned over many times, by hand.