Brie Cheese

Brie Cheese
© Denzil Green

Brie is a creamy French cheese popular for its smooth yet tangy, slightly acid taste and its woodsy smell. The cheese ripens quickly, and must be eaten before the flavour and aroma become offensive. The cheese is a pale yellow inside with a crust like a soft white velvet.

Brie is ripened from the outside in, by applying a coating of the white surface bacteria that ripens it. As the ripening moves inward, the cheese is transformed from a solid into a creamy semi-liquid. The cheese is formed into thin wheels because if the wheels were too thick, the outside might liquify entirely while the inside remained unripened. Because it continues to ripen after the inside reaches the creamy semi-liquid stage, it generally has to be used up within about 40 days. If Brie is too ripe, it will have an ammonia smell to it.

Brie has been deemed a "generic" name by the European PDO food registration system, meaning that it can be made anywhere, by anyone. Some particularly bland-tasting versions are made in North America.

History Notes for Brie Cheese

Brie has been made just outside Paris since the 8th century. It used to be called "The Kings Cheese", but after the revolution it was called "The King of Cheeses".

Recipe Suggestions

Braised Fennel with Brie, Brie and Red Onion Tarts, Brie Potato Cakes, Brie & Artichoke Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes with Brie & Cranberry

Also called:

Brie (French)

Other entries for: Brie Cheese
Brie de Chèvre, Brie de Coulommiers Cheese, Brie de Meaux, Brie de Melun, Brie de Montereau, Brie de Nangis, Brie Noir

Other entries for: Soft Cheeses
Añejo Cheese, Banon Cheese, Boilie Cheese, Boursin Cheese, Brillat-Savarin Cheese, Bruss Cheese, Burrata Cheese, Caboc Cheese, Camembert Cheese, Chèvre Frais, Cornish Yarg Cheese, Crottin de Chavignol Cheese, Crowdie Cheese, Cumulus Cheese, Edel de Cléron Cheese, Feta Cheese, Feuille d'automne Cheese, Fresh Cheeses, La Tur Cheese, Lancashire Cheese, Le Veillon Cheese, Lymeswold Cheese, Mitzithra Cheese (Fresh), Oaxaca Cheese, Oxford Isis Cheese, Pié d'angloys, Pithiviers Cheese, Pont Couvert Cheese, Prescinseua Cheese, Squacquerone Cheese, St-Nectaire Cheese, Tarapatapom Cheese, Telemes Cheese, Vacherin Chaput Cheese, Vacherin Mont d'Or, Wensleydale with Cranberries, Whirl Cheese

Other entries for: Cheese
Affinage, American Cheeses, Casu Marzu, Cheese Rinds, Creamery, Double/Triple-Cream Cheese, Extra-Hard Cheeses, Firm Cheeses, Goat's Milk Cheeses, Mexican Cheeses, Pate (of a Cheese), Processed Cheese, Queso Fundido, Rennet, Semi-Firm Cheeses, Sheep's Milk Cheeses, Skim-Milk Cheeses, Smear-Ripened Cheeses, Surface-Ripened Cheeses, Sweet Curd Cheeses, The Crumblies, Truckle, Washed-Curd Cheeses, Washed-Rind Cheeses, Yak Cheese, Yeel Cheese

Other entries for: Dairy
Butterfat, Butter, Milk, Nondairy Topping