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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France

Mimolette (extra-vieille)Mimolette

Pasteurised cow milk is ripened with lactic cultures for at least two hours, coloured with annatto and set with calf rennet. The curd grains are washed, pressed into balls and brined for two to three days. In cool, humid cellars the balls are turned and brushed for 13 to 18 months or more while cheese mites work the rind into a grey, cratered crust. Made in 6 steps over 13 months. The longest step, ripen in cellars, turned and brushed, with mites, takes at least 13 months (INAO 2014) and runs at 8–16 °C (INAO 2014). Mesophilic lactic acid bacteria and Cheese mite Tyrolichus casei, the only mite found in Mimolette ripening rooms do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 13 monthsSet[lr-mimolette]Ripen in cellars, turned and brushed, with mites
Temperature8–16 °CSet[lr-mimolette]Ripen in cellars, turned and brushed, with mites
AciditypH 5.1–5.6Set[lr-mimolette]Brine
Fully documentedCheese13 monthsLabel Rouge LA 26/89 (Mimolette vieille and extra-vieille)Family: Washed-curd cheese family (Gouda as template)More washed-curd cheesesMore from France

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceDoses per litre of milk as set by the Label Rouge specification.
Cow milk · Pasteurised within 36 h of the first collection (Label Rouge)[lr-mimolette][cheesescientist]
Lactic cultures · Mesophilic lactic bacteria and ripening cultures[lr-mimolette][cheesescientist]
0.04–0.25 mL per litre of milkCalf rennet · Animal rennet only in the Label Rouge cheese[lr-mimolette]
At most 0.35 mL per litre of milkAnnatto (rocou) · Gives the orange colour[lr-mimolette]
At most 1 mL per litreCalcium chloride[lr-mimolette]
Saturated brine · Density 1150–1200[lr-mimolette]
Startermesophilic lactic cultures; cheese mites live on the rind during ripening

Total time across the recorded steps: 13 months

Start
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pH 6.4–6.8shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Lactic cultures go into the pasteurised milk and start to sour it

Step 1 of 6
Ripen the milk with lactic cultures
Time
at least 2 h
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6.4–6.8
Set
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: ripened milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
white

Microbes at work in this step

mesophilic lactic bacteria start to sour the milk

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

Mimolette is an Edam-type washed-curd ball coloured orange with annatto. Its rind is left to cheese mites for many months, which pit it and add a lemon-like note from their secretions. Milbenkäse is ripened by the same mite species, but through and through.

Milk
Pasteurised cow milk
Ripening
At least 13 months for vieille and 18 months for extra-vieille (Label Rouge); jeune is 3–6 months
Composition
Label Rouge rules: fat in dry matter at least 40 %, dry matter at least 65 %

Related ferments

Variants

  • Mimolette jeuneAbout 3–6 months.
  • Mimolette demi-vieilleAt least 6 months.
  • Mimolette vieille Label RougeAt least 13 months.
  • Mimolette extra-vieille Label RougeAt least 18 months.

History and sources

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

Annatto colour once set Mimolette apart from the Dutch Edam it was modelled on.

  1. [lr-mimolette] INAO, Cahier des charges du Label Rouge n° LA 26/89 « Mimolette vieille et extra-vieille » (amendment presented to the INAO national committee on 16 October 2014)spec
  2. [cheesescientist] Kincaid J. 2024, Mimolette — a story of cheese mites and jack o'lanterns, Cheese Scientistweb
  3. [melnyk2010] Melnyk J.P., Smith A., Scott-Dupree C., Marcone M.F., Hill A. 2010, Identification of cheese mite species inoculated on Mimolette and Milbenkase cheese through cryogenic scanning electron microscopy, Journal of Dairy Science 93:3461–3468, doi:10.3168/jds.2009-2937paper
  4. [shimano2022] Shimano S., Hiruta S.F., Shimizu N., Hagino W., Aoki J.I., OConnor B.M. 2022, Do 'cheese factory-specific' mites (Acari, Astigmata) exist in the cheese-ripening cabinet?, Experimental and Applied Acarology 87:49–65, doi:10.1007/s10493-022-00725-8paper
  5. [shimizu2022] Shimizu N., OConnor B.M., Hiruta S.F., Hagino W., Shimano S. 2022, Mite secretions from three traditional mite-ripened cheese types, are ripened French cheeses flavored by the mites?, Experimental and Applied Acarology 87:309–323, doi:10.1007/s10493-022-00734-7paper
  6. [bruckner2016] Brückner A., Heethoff M. 2016, Scent of a mite, origin and chemical characterization of the lemon-like flavor of mite-ripened cheeses, Experimental and Applied Acarology 69:249–261, doi:10.1007/s10493-016-0040-7paper