Camembert

Type: Soft
Milk: Pasteurised cow's milk
Rennet: Animal
Location: Normandy, France

Although initially, after the import restrictions came in this July, our Camembert were being supplied by Graindorges Creamery, we’re very happy to be able to welcome back cheeses from Reaux again.  They make small amounts of pasteurised cheese for export to countries that don’t allow raw milk and we’re finally able to bring their cheeses back to our counters.

Reaux cheesemaker Marc Brunet took on the Fromagerie du Val D'Ay at a young age but with a mature head. The dairy uses a farmhouse recipe, techniques and equipment to make semi-industrial quantities of cheese.

They work with over 60 local herds which average at 70 Normande cows (about one third of the average UK herd size) and the farmers are paid a premium to encourage diverse flavour-producing bacteria in their milk. As a result, Reaux's Camembert uses only small quantities of starter culture, added to partially skimmed milk and left to ripen overnight in a room kept at 30C. Their cheeses are ladled by hand from small basins of curd and drain on reed mats. This is an elegantly subtle Camembert with flavours ranging from vegetal, buttered spring greens to more ethereal, ozone, shellfish qualities.