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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, Normandy

Camembert de Normandie PDOCamembert de Normandie

Raw milk, at least half from Normande cows, is matured cool, then set with animal rennet in small basins at no more than 37 °C. The curd is ladled into each mould in at least five passes 40 minutes apart and drains on its own for at least 18 hours. Dry-salted, it grows a white rind in the ripening room and reaches customers no earlier than day 22. Made in 8 steps over 45 days. The longest step, ripen in the hâloir, takes at least 22 days (INAO 2013) and runs at 10–18 °C (INAO 2013). The native lactic flora of the raw milk, plus harmless added lactic cultures and Penicillium candidum, the white felted rind do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 22 daysSet[bo-cam2013]Ripen in the hâloir
Temperature10–18 °CSet[bo-cam2013]Ripen in the hâloir

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe. Each basin holds at most 330 l, and each cheese is 10.5–11 cm across and weighs at least 250 g.
Raw cow milk · At least 50% of the herd's dairy cows are Normande; part-skimmed to about 28–29 g fat per litre; never heated above 40 °C, bactofuged or filtered[bo-cam2013]
Lactic, yeast and mould cultures · Only harmless cultures of bacteria, yeasts and moulds[bo-cam2013]
At most 23 ml per 100 l of milkAnimal rennet · At a strength of 520 mg chymosin per litre[bo-cam2013]
Calcium chloride[bo-cam2013]
Dry salt[bo-cam2013]
Starterlactic cultures plus the native lactic flora of the raw milk; white mould

Total time across the recorded steps: 45 days

Start
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up to 40 °C

What changes: Starting material: raw milk from Normande-led herds, part-skimmed

Step 1 of 8
Collect raw milk
Time
up to 3 days
Set
Temperature
up to 40 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Penicillium candidum
Brevibacterium linens

Normandy milk is too rich to use whole, so it is part-skimmed or left to cream naturally.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Pasteurised milk spread through Camembert making after the Second World War, but Camembert de Normandie must still use raw milk, from herds that are at least half Normande cows. Its curd is laid into each mould in five or more slow passes, not poured at once, and drains with no whey drawn off, which keeps the paste supple.

Milk
Raw milk, at least 50% from Normande cows, stored no more than 72 h; cold maturation under 24 h at 22 °C or less; never heated above 40 °C
Setting
Animal rennet in basins of up to 330 l at 37 °C or less
Moulding
Ladled in at least 5 passes at least 40 min apart; drains on its own for at least 18 h from the first ladle
Salting
Dry salt
Ripening
Ripening room at 10–18 °C; not packed before day 13, delivered no earlier than day 22 after renneting
Size
10.5–11 cm across, at least 250 g; fat in dry matter at least 45%; at least 115 g dry matter per cheese; wooden box

Related ferments

Safety

This is a raw-milk cheese. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones such as Comté.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (risks ANSES names for raw-milk cheeses).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Thomas Corneille's geographical dictionary, published in 1708, describes a Monday market at Vimoutiers selling the cheeses of the Camembert country. Tradition credits Marie Harel and a refractory priest around 1791. A wooden box invented around 1890 helped it travel, and Pasteur's pupils selected the white surface moulds. A court made the word "camembert" public in 1926; the AOC "Camembert de Normandie" followed in 1983.

  1. [bo-cam2013] INAO, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine « Camembert de Normandie », homologated by decree no. 2013-1059 of 22 November 2013 (BO-Agri no. 48-2013)spec
  2. [eamb-cam] INAO, Application for registration of the PDO Camembert de Normandie under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, summary sheet (1995), eAmbrosia attachment 71553archive
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov