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Brie de Meaux is a Brie cheese with a very pale yellow inside and a white velvet rind. It develops a nutty flavour as it ages.
It is made from raw cow's milk (the milk has to be unpasteurized to meet its AOC specifications,)
Rennet is added, and the milk heated to 98.6 F (37 C.) The curd is then put into a mould by hand with a tool they call a Brie shovel ("pelle à Brie",) salted, and hand-shaped into wheels.
The cheese is aged at least 4 weeks. The rind is not washed, but the cheese is turned several times by hand.
A typical wheel of this cheese will be 14 inches (36 cm) wide x 1 inch (2 1/2 cm) tall, and weigh around 6 1/4 pounds (2.8 kg.) It will have required 6.6 US gallons (25 litres) of milk.
Brie de Meaux is usually sold when young, about 1 week old, to an cheese ager (affineur.) This has been done since the 1800s, particularly to Parisian cheese agers.
Though first made in Meaux, since the 1850s its production area has followed cheese factories moving eastward. Now, Brie de Meaux is made all around Paris, in the département of Seine & Marne, and in parts of the départements of Aube, Haute-Marne, Marne, Meuse, and Yonne. More than 60% is the cheese is produced in Meuse.
As of 2003, eight factories and one farmer are making Brie de Meaux, being supplied with milk from 672 dairy farmers. The single farm still making it is Trente Arpents Farm at Favières in Seine & Marne. If this cheese is classed Brie de Meaux "Fermier" ("fermier" meaning "farm"), it has to be made on a farm with milk from that farm's own cows. Thus, only Trente Arpents is still allowed to call it Brie de Meaux "Fermier."
The cheese is made year round, but the ones made in the fall are considered by some to be the best.
Nutrition
Brie de Meaux contains 45% butterfat
Per 100 g: 20 to 21 g protein, anywhere from 260 to 350 calories, 150 to 575 g calcium
History
Brie de Meaux cheese received its French AOC on 18 August 1980. The conditions of the AOC were redefined on 31 December 1986.
Also called:
See Also
Appellation of Controlled Origin
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, Edel de Cléron Cheese, Feta Cheese, Fresh Cheeses, La Tur Cheese, Lancashire Cheese, Lymeswold Cheese, Mitzithra Cheese (Fresh), Oaxaca Cheese, Oxford Isis Cheese, Pié d'angloys, Pithiviers Cheese, Squacquerone Cheese, St-Nectaire Cheese, Telemes Cheese, Vacherin Mont d'Or, Wensleydale with Cranberries
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
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