Delicious Brie CheeseWhat Makes it SO Yummy?
And it takes approximately 6.6 gallons of milk to make one round of delicious brie cheese! The process consists of heating milk to no more than 37 degrees C – but only during the renneting stage. Therefore, the cheese is never cooked. After being put into a mold with a special, perforated shovel called “pelle à Brie”, it is salted with a dry salt. This salting process is used to balance the sweetness that occurs because of the high quality of milk used. In France, there are only 5 or 6 real Brie de Meaux producers left. (Too bad for lovers of brie appetizers!) and apparently it’s an economically-challenged industry to get into. Brie has a very fragile curd that is easily broken and requires a special room built only for the use of making Brie and Triple Crème. It has to maintain just the right temperature or the maturation process will not work. This, in itself, makes Brie hard to make and evidently requires quite an investment. Therefore, farmers are not as inclined to invest their time and money on such a delicate, not always reliable process. To serve Brie cheese properly, it’s best to allow it to come to room temperature. Some good suggestions of wine to serve with any kind of Brie appetizer is a red Côte-du-Rhône, a red Bordeaux or Burgundy and it always goes well with a good quality Champagne.
In the United States, we don’t sell “real Brie” because of the pasteurization laws that have been installed here. US FDA regulations say that you can only make cheese with our pasteurized milk or, cheeses made with raw milk must be aged for at least 60 days. The 60-day period is necessary to qualify for US importation. And letting it age that long in our country would make the Brie too overripe for eating. So, even though our version of French Brie is not a true Brie, it still tastes wonderful. However, if you were to put true French Brie next to Brie made in the United States, the difference would be highly noticeable. Probably, you'd get hooked on the French Brie and have to make yearly trips to France to feed your new craving! In lieu of going to France, try these delicious Brie cheese appetizers. You’ll be glad you did! Check back often as I am always adding new recipes. Do you have a special Brie Appetizer that you'd like to share? If so, contact me and I'll be happy to post it here for you. Brie Appetizers Return from Delicious Brie Cheese to Easy Appetizer Recipes home page.
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