Neufchatel

Neufchatel is a soft cheese with white mold made from cow’s milk. It is first officially appeared in the Abbey Saint-Amand in Rouen in 1543. According to legends, during the Hundred Years’ War young girls gave the cheese to their English admirers as tokens of their affection.

Made from raw or pasteurized milk to which rennet is added, and sometimes also lactobacilli, the cheese is put in linen bags and left to drain for several hours under slight pressure. The mass is injected with chopped bloom-covered cheese and stirred until the mass is homogeneous. It is placed on wooden slats in cellars and left to mature for 10 to 14 days.

It is available in several sizes and shapes, with carre (square), bondon (cylinder), and briquette (brick) weighing 3.5 oz, double-bondon and small heart weighing 7 oz, as well as larger ones of 21oz. The rind is a white bloom, with a soft mass, creamy and slightly grainy. Mature Neufchatel has a slightly yellow mass with red spots on the rind, smelling and tasting of mushrooms. Young Neufchatel is strong and acidic, with mature ones having intense, slightly piquant flavor.

Neufchatel can be eaten fresh or mature, tasting best between August and November. Cider goes extremely well with mature Neufchatel, along with Cru Beaujolais or mature St-Emilion.