Brie ( ; ) is a soft cow's-milk

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

named after Brie (itself from

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...

''briga'', "hill, height"), the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern of

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

). It is pale in colour with a slight greyish tinge under a rind of white

mould A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi ...

. The rind is typically eaten, with its flavour depending largely upon the ingredients used and its manufacturing environment. It is similar to

Camembert Camembert ( , , ) is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look, taste and texture to brie cheese, albe ...

, which is native to a different region of France. Brie typically contains between 60% and 75%

butterfat Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain. Composition Butterfat is mainly composed of triglycerides. Each triglyceride contains three fatty acids. Butt ...

, slightly higher than Camembert. "Brie" is a style of cheese, and is not in itself a protected name, although some regional bries are protected. Some of the flavour notes that are commonly found when eating Brie are: creamy, nutty, mushroom-like, and slightly-acidic.

Production

Brie may be produced from whole or semi-skimmed milk. The

curd Curd is obtained by Denaturation (biochemistry), coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet, a Kefir cheese, ...

is obtained by adding

rennet Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease, protease enzyme that curdling, curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, su ...

to raw milk and warming it to a maximum temperature of . The cheese is then cast into moulds, sometimes with a traditional perforated ladle called a . The mould is filled with several thin layers of cheese and drained for approximately 18 hours. The cheese is then taken out of the moulds, salted, inoculated with cheese culture (''

Penicillium camemberti ''Penicillium camemberti'' is a species of fungus in the genus ''Penicillium''. It is used in the production of Camembert, Brie, Langres, Coulommiers, and Cambozola cheeses, on which colonies of ''P. camemberti'' form a hard, white crust ...

'' or '' Brevibacterium linens''), and aged in a controlled environment for at least four or five weeks. If left to mature for longer, typically several months to a year, the cheese becomes stronger in flavour and taste, the pâte drier and darker, and the rind also darker and crumbly, and it is called (French for 'black brie'). Overripe brie contains an unpleasantly excessive amount of

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

, produced by the same

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...

s required for ripening.

Nutrition

A thirty-gram serving of brie contains about of

food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals and humans derive from food to sustain their metabolism and muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohydrates, fats, and protein ...

and of fat, of which are

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone, and fatty acids that each cont ...

. Brie is a good source of protein; a serving of brie can provide of protein. Brie contains a good amount of both vitamin B₁₂ and vitamin B₂.

Varieties

There are now many varieties of brie made all over the world, including plain brie, herbed varieties, double and triple brie and versions of brie made with other types of

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

. Indeed, although brie is a French cheese, it is possible to obtain

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

brie. The French government officially certifies only two types of brie, '' brie de Meaux'' and '' brie de Melun''. Some varieties of brie cheese are smoked.

Brie de Meaux

Brie de Meaux is an unpasteurized round cheese with a diameter of , and a weight of about . Manufactured in the town of

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

in the Brie region of northern France since the 8th century, it was originally known as the "Queen's cheese", or, after the French Revolution, the "queen of cheeses", and was eaten by all social classes. It was granted the protection of ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

'' (AOC) status in 1980. It is produced primarily in the eastern part of the Parisian basin.

Brie de Melun

Brie de Melun has an average weight of and a diameter of , smaller than Brie de Meaux. It has a stronger flavour and more pungent smell. It is made with unpasteurised milk. Brie de Melun is also available in the form of "Old Brie" or black brie. It was granted the protection of AOC status in 1980.

French non-AOC bries

The following French bries do not have AOC certification: brie de Montereau, Île-de-France, brie de Nangis, brie de Provins, brie noir, brie fermier, brie d'Isigny, brie de Melun bleu, brie petit moulé, brie laitier Coulommiers.

International bries

Australia: King Island Dairy, on King Island between Victoria and Tasmania, produces a range of cheeses sold as "brie", as does Jindi Cheese in Victoria and High Valley Mudgee Cheese Co in Mudgee, NSW. UK: Cornish Brie; Somerset Brie; Baron Bigod (made in Suffolk); Cenarth brie (made in Wales); Morangie brie (made in the Highlands, Scotland); Connage Clava brie (made in Scotland). US: The Marin French Cheese Company in California has made an unaged cheese since 1865 described as "fresh brie". Kolb-Lena, a Savencia Fromage & Dairy plant in Illinois has made brie- and camembert-style cheese since early 1900. Today still producing brie under the brands: Alouette, Delice de France or award-winning soft cheese under Dorothy's. Ireland: Ireland produces various "brie" cheeses such as Wicklow Bán brie, St. Killian brie, and The Little Milk Company's Organic Irish Brie. New Zealand has many brie-style cheeses, varying from the Mainland brand, with Creamy, Double Cream, and Blue varieties, to craft cheesemakers such as Grinning Gecko.

Serving

Brie is produced as a wheel; a segment, or a whole wheel, may be bought. The white rind is edible. The cheese is ready to eat when the outside is firm, and the inside is slightly bouncy and resilient. Underripe brie is stiff to the touch; overripe brie is creamier and almost runny. The cheese is sometimes served baked.

Storage

Brie is a soft cheese, which allows the rapid widespread growth of bacteria and moulds if the cheese is not stored correctly. It is recommended that soft cheeses such as brie be kept refrigerated. The optimal storage temperature for brie is or even lower. The cheese should be kept in a tightly sealed container, tightly wrapped wax paper or plastic wrap to avoid contact with moisture and food-spoilage bacteria which will reduce the shelf life and freshness of the product. Cheese producers specify a " best before date", and say that the quality of the cheese will degrade beyond then. Cheese with blue or green mould may not be safe to eat; the mould may also have spread invisibly to apparently unaffected parts.

Comparison with Camembert

is a similar soft cheese that is also made from cow's milk. However, there are differences such as its origin, typical market shape, size, and flavour. Brie originates from the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

while Camembert comes from

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. Traditionally, brie was produced in large wheels, in diameter, and thus ripened more slowly than the smaller Camembert cheeses. However, they both ripen from the outside in. Brie ripens in a cellar or cave while Camembert ripens on shelves or frames. When sold, brie segments typically have been cut from the larger wheels (although some brie is sold as small, flat cylinders), and therefore its sides are not covered by the rind. By contrast, Camembert is ripened as a small round cheese in diameter by about thick and fully covered by rind. This ratio change between rind and paste makes Camembert slightly stronger when compared to a brie ripened for the same amount of time. Once the rind is cut on Camembert, the cheese typically has a more pungent aroma than does brie. In terms of taste, Camembert has a stronger, slightly sour, and sometimes chalky taste. The texture of Camembert is softer than that of brie, and if warmed, Camembert will become creamier, whereas brie warms without losing as much structure.

References

External links

* {{Authority control French cheeses French products with protected designation of origin Cow's-milk cheeses Smoked cheeses Surface-ripened cheeses