Many years ago, I ordered cheese in a Paris restaurant (surprised?) and I vividly recall the moment it arrived at the table. “Le véritable Brie de Meaux,” the waiter announced as he set it down with ceremony, pronouncing each syllable slowly so we couldn’t miss his message: This was the real deal—raw-milk Brie with a protected name, the epitome of French soft-ripened cheese.
I have had countless encounters with Brie since then, but that long-ago Brie de Meaux remains the one to beat. Alas, the cheese is illegal in the U.S. A few imported and domestic Bries come close to matching that taste memory, but most let me down. So-called “stabilized” Brie like the wedge pictured above— engineered for longevity—dominates the market and may be altering consumer understanding of what Brie is or should be.
The best we get: Ferme de la Tremblaye’s Brie Fermier
Traditional Bries—like Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, both raw-milk cheeses protected by a PDO—ripen gradually from the outside in. When optimally ripe (in my view), they are creamy under the rind but retain a slightly firm core. Eventually, they become supple throughout and start to slump, and the rind develops reddish or tan striations. Traditional Brie, when ripe, smells of truffle, cauliflower and butter-sauteed mushrooms.
Stabilized Brie is a different animal. By the time it gets to a retailer, it is uniformly creamy, easy to slice and resistant to slumping. Compared to traditional Brie, it is practically frozen in time. Merchants don’t have to fret that the cheese will die before they can sell it. A desirable feature for the retailer, but it comes at a cost. Stabilized Bries, in my experience, lack compelling aroma and flavor, and their texture quickly grows tiresome.
But they’re here to stay. Stabilized Bries like Fromager d’Affinois and Président Brie are hugely successful—bestsellers in many shops. People enjoy their mild flavor and spreadability.
Producers use proprietary methods to achieve these results, and no creamery is going to detail its recipe for me. But online research suggests that the process relies on different cultures than traditional Brie, more rennet and different pH targets. Some of these Bries have cream added. Some rely on ultrafiltration, removing water from the milk before cheesemaking begins. Concentrating the milk in this way speeds up the cheesemaking by a matter of weeks.
Sadly, we don’t see Brie de Meaux or Brie de Melun in the U.S. anymore. Because they’re made with raw milk, they have to be aged more than 60 days in France to be legal for sale here, and that’s close to the end of their life. Still, we have options. When I want a Brie or Brie-style cheese with more traditional flavor and texture, here are four I look for:
Brie Fermier/Ferme de la Tremblaye: a farmstead cheese made near Paris, with a buttery mushroom aroma and pillowy texture;
Brie l’Original/Paysan Breton: a cream-added French Brie with a room-filling mushroom and truffle aroma;
A cut above: Moses Sleeper
Moses Sleeper/Jasper Hill Farm: a Vermont interpretation with the mushroom and cauliflower scent I associate with fine French Brie;
Mt. Alice/ Von Trapp Farmstead: another Vermont beauty with a thin, tender rind; silky interior; porcini mushroom fragrance and beefy finish.
And when I need to refresh my taste memory of Brie de Meaux, that trip to France is tax deductible, right?