Livarot
or the colonel! Some people refer to it this way. This artisanal cheese is named after a village in Normandy.
The smell and the tast of Livarot has lessened over the years, but it is still very strong tasting. It should be very ripe when chosen. A smell of amonia can indicate that the cheese is past its best. Your finger should sink into the pate. The rind is washed and coloured with annatto, and is sticky to the fingers. The ripe pate has no elasticity and feels heavy and moist to the tongue. It is a soft, uncooked and unpressed pate. The cheese disolves in the mouth, leaving a spicy flavour, close to that of hung meat.
Did you know.....the Livarot is one of the oldest Normand cheeses. Some people refer to it as the "Colonel" because it is bound with 5 straps reminiscent of a colonel's stripes. These are straps of dried rush or paper wound around the boarder of the cheese. At one time they were used to hold the cheese in place during its curing and maturing process. Today the cheese is kept in a wooden box, the straps being used mostly for esthetic purposes.
A bit of history.....it is assumed that the derivative of the cherubs, mentioned in the "Tale of the Rose" from the thirteenth century is referring to this cheese. It was later refered to in the "Universal Dictionary" of Thomas Corneille in 1708. By the end of the nineteenth century, it had become the most consumed cheese in Normandy, not to mention that in 1977, about 4.5 million cheeses were sold.
It was considered a "poor man's meat". In fact, due to its humid climate, Normandies lush grasslands, rich with bovine cattle were developed. Normandy produced significant quantities of creme, butter, and cheese. The Livarot was made with a milk whose creme was strained off, which was then dried, and kept for up to 6 months. The cheese obtained from this process provided a consistent nutritional source and was served to farm workers in place of meat, which was very expensive a that time. Thus it became known as the "poor man's meat".
AOC cheese since 1975. Cheese made from raw milk
Fat Content: 40%
Dry Matter of Total Fat: 22%
Try this cheese with a young, red Pomerol, or a white Pinot of Alsace late harvest style wine, or simply...with a good cider.
Fabrication : Artisanale - lait cru - AOC |
