If Rules Change, Will Camembert Stay the Same?

The New York Times ^ | June 20, 2007 | By ELAINE SCIOLINO

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But Camembert purists like Mr. Durand are infuriated these days because two of France’s largest dairy producers want to change the rules.

..which together made 90 percent of the traditional raw milk Camembert in Normandy, began earlier this year to treat the milk used for most of those cheeses.

In doing so, they were forced to sacrifice their A.O.C. status, the first time in French history that Camembert producers voluntarily did so.

But they also have asked the French governmental food board to grant that status to their new Camemberts, arguing that the processing they use — either filtering or gently heating the milk — does not sacrifice the traditional taste and character of the cheese.

...claiming that the move is a ploy by the dairy giants to make more cheese and profits while destroying a crucial part of French heritage. If the companies’ petition is granted, they argue, raw milk cheese would be threatened.

“Camembert that is not made with raw milk may be cheese, but it’s not real Camembert,” said Mr. Durand, who took over the family farm when he was only 19 and has run it for 26 years. “To not know a real raw milk Camembert — what a loss that would be. The variety, the diversity, the flavor of cheese — the very heritage of our country — will disappear.”

In New York, Steven Jenkins, a cheese expert and senior manager of the Fairway markets, praises the Lactalis Camembert made with treated milk, and sold at Fairway under the label Le Châtelain, as “something awfully darned good.”

But he laments the move away from raw milk. “This is a slippery slope that’s getting more slippery all the time,” he said. “Eventually everything’s going to taste the same — all because of profit.”

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The town in Normandy.

Francois Durand, a dairy farmer, puts unpasteurized milk into a vat.

Mr. Durand then ladles just the right amount of warm, curdled raw milk into molds. The ritual must be repeated four more times in each mold before the rounds are ready for eating.

The final process: packing. Mr. Durand claims to be the last dairy farmer in Normandy to be commercially making Camembert from hand-ladled unpasteurized milk.

Mr. Durand's cheese is a main ingredient at La Camembertiere, a restaurant in Normandy.

A tart made with Camembert au Lait Cru, Mr. Durand's cheese.

Camembert ice cream in apple syrup.

Mr. Durand's cows are fed under strict conditions to retain the cheese's level of quality.

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Holding up a crusty Camembert wedge, he exclaimed: “You can smell the farm, the grass, the cows. The richness comes in the originality, even in the imperfections. This is what we’re fighting to preserve.”

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Lets see now that France is going chemicals if France has a weight gain?

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...I’m gettin’ a Monty Python flashback...

Some few years ago I read about the EU rules, which the author of that piece claimed would homogenize all European foods, turning every country into a bland, Americanized place. Meanwhile, most years, the French gov’t buys up the considerable amount of unsold wine inventories, and turns it into fuel additives, solvents, cleaners, etc, because blended US wines (along with Chilean wines) are preferred in large markets like the US.