Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Cheese of the Week: Emmental, Brie & Camembert



Swiss Emmental Cheese

You might have guessed it already... yessir, I'm a Cheese-lovah! 
My favorite has always been Camembert (but I'll talk about that later). Anyway, I thought of including a different kind of cheese in our grocery list every week... just a little each time cuz hubby and I can only consume so much (since I'm the cheese-lover, at least 80% goes to me.. oops, there goes my diet!)
Anyway.. for this week, I chose Swiss Emmental Cheese. I like it... Gentle flavor yet it has a little sharp taste.  Perfect for nibbling! =)


Here's some Emmental Cheese Trivia:
Emmentaler is a yellow, medium-hard cheese, with characteristic large holes. It has a piquant, but not very sharp, taste. As the cheese cures, the bacteria inside generate a great deal of carbon dioxide. The thick rind on the outside traps the gas inside, causing it to form distinctive large holes. Typically, the cheese is aged for at least four months, and often much longer. 
The cheese melts extraordinarily well, making it a popular choice for grilled sandwiches and baked dishes which include cheese. It can also be sliced and eaten plain, and is a popular inclusion on cheese plates. 


And now, let's talk about my first love... CAMEMBERT CHEESE: 
 
Ohhhh, Mama Mia, doesn't this look heavenly? *drool*


I developed this love affair with Camembert a few years back when we went to Rome for a trip. Every morning we had a breakfast buffet which included a wide selection of cheeses... ohhh I was in Cheese Heaven!!! So every morning I wolfed down this certain cheese, and a couple of years after, I still couldn't forget it.  On our trip to Finland, we stayed in a hotel and every morning I read the same magazine they had in the stand... a magazine about Cheeses and the perfect wine to go with it! On my last day, I snuck off with it... sorry, I just couldn't resist. ;-P  Anyway, so that's where I found out the name of this Cheese that has captured my heart, lol. It's called Camembert Cheese (which looks similar to Brie Cheese.)


Now, this is BRIE CHEESE:




Since they look very similar, here's some Camembert vs. Brie Cheese Trivia:


Brie /ˈbriː/ is a soft cows' cheese named after Brie, the French province in which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern département of Seine-et-Marne). (an area south-east of Paris where the cattle grazed on stony river beds)


Camembert is a soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Normandy in northern France. (where a different breed of cattle grazed on lush green pastures.)


Brie and Camembert are both types of soft white cheese. 

The process used to make Brie is very similar to that used for Camembert, but Brie is made in larger wheels, ranging from about 1 to 6 pounds (500g to 3kg) in weight, 9 to 15 inches in diameter and 1 to 1.5 inches in thickness, although it also can be found in 8-ounce disks.
Camembert’s smaller size will affect it in several ways. It tends to age slightly more quickly, and the flavor of a true Camembert will be a little stronger than that of a true Brie. Gilles, a fromagier at Artisanal Premium Cheese in New York City, explains that, because of its smaller size, Camembert will lose moisture more quickly, which concentrates its flavor.

Brie and Camembert are not for dieters (hence, the heavenly taste, haha!) ; both are high fat cheeses, which is part of what makes them taste good. Steven Jenkins describes the taste of a true, raw milk Brie or Camembert as “simultaneously fried-eggy, garlicky, nutty, truffle-like, and mushroomy” and adds that both will “melt on your tongue with a sensuous feel” that factory-made cheeses cannot hope to replicate.

Removing the more desirable tip from a wedge of brie is known as "pointing the Brie" and is widely regarded as a serious social faux pas.

(info from Wikipedia)


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