⚪ Soft cheeses with a bloomy rind

Bloomy rind cheeses are soft cheeses whose rind is covered during ripening by a white, downy mould, Penicillium camemberti, and which ripen from the rind towards the centre. The best-known examples are Camembert and Brie. Codex Alimentarius describes two classic cheeses of this group: CXS 276-1973 for Camembert and CXS 277-1973 for Brie. ¹²

Both are defined as soft cheeses ripened from the surface, mainly by mould. In the EU some names are protected by origin: Camembert de Normandie and Brie de Meaux are PDO cheeses listed in the eAmbrosia register. ¹²³

The raw material is mostly cow's milk, less often goat's milk. The milk is set with rennet and a starter culture, and the curd is ladled gently into moulds, where the whey drains by gravity without pressing. The cheeses are salted and treated with mould spores; the yeast-like Geotrichum candidum often works alongside. Ripening at the dairy takes several weeks, and the paste softens from the edge to the core until it is creamy. ¹²

Well-known cheeses of the group: Camembert, Brie de Meaux, Brie de Melun, Chaource, Coulommiers, heart-shaped Neufchâtel, and cream-enriched cheeses such as Brillat-Savarin. ³

Where the white mould came from. Penicillium camemberti is a domesticated lineage. A genome study found that an ancient domestication gave the grey-green P. biforme from the wild blue-green P. fuscoglaucum, and P. camemberti arose much later. Compared with the wild form it is whiter, grows faster on cheese, makes less toxin and holds back other fungi better. ⁵

What the standard says. Codex describes Brie and Camembert as cheeses of cow's or buffalo milk, up to about 5 cm high. Camembert weighs 80–500 g and Brie 500–3,500 g, and cheese ready to eat normally ripens from 10 days at 10–16 °C. The rind must be covered with white mould but may have red, brownish or orange spots. The group also includes goat's cheeses such as Valençay and Pélardon, and cheeses from other countries such as Bonchester. ¹²³

How to choose and serve. Look at the type of cheese and its age: Brie de Meaux is fully mature at six to eight weeks, Brie de Melun at eight to ten. Spots on the white rind are not a fault in themselves, as the standard allows them. Keep the cheese in the fridge at 0–5 °C. Producers suggest Loire and Burgundy reds, dry whites, cider and bread. The rind is eaten. ⁶⁷⁸

Why it matters to you: the white mould is a culture the cheesemaker adds on purpose, and it gives the mushroomy, creamy flavour. Knowing how these cheeses ripen helps you pick one at the stage you like. The NHS advises pregnant women not to eat mould-ripened cheeses unless they are cooked until steaming hot. Soft cheeses that ripen without a white mould rind form a separate group, Soft cheeses without mould. ⁴