France is famous for its delicious cheeses. A special place among the whole variety of varieties of such a product is occupied by soft camembert and brie cheeses, one of the most popular in this country. To an ignorant person, such varieties may seem almost the same. But if you tell the French about the similarity of Camembert and Brie, they will consider you an ignoramus, because although these cheeses are similar, they still have quite a lot of differences.
What is Camembert and Brie
Camembert is a soft cheese made from cow's milk. The history of this famous cheese began only at the end of the 19th century. However, according to one legend, such a product appeared a century earlier than the above date.
Brie is a soft cheese made from cow's milk. This is the number 1 cheese in France. He is considered the "father" of Camembert. Brie is one of the oldest French cheeses.
Difference between camembert and brie cheeses
Camembert is a soft cheese with a color ranging from light creamy to white. This cheese is covered with a musty white crust. Delicate, spicy, sweetish in taste, it exudes the aroma of fresh mushrooms - champignons. The size of the Camembert circle is precisely fixed. It is 3 centimeters high and 11 centimeters in diameter.
Camembert is a fatty cheese. Brie's fat content is 25% lower.
Brie is a soft grayish-white cheese covered with a white moldy crust with reddish streaks. It is made in the form of "cakes" with different heights (3-5 centimeters) and diameters (30-60 centimeters). Brie has a spicy, very delicate and slightly pungent taste, exudes hazelnuts.
Camembert and brie are crusty due to special cheese mold. In Brie cheese, the crust is almost tasteless and tastes like ammonia, while in Camembert it has a noticeable aroma of mushrooms and a pungent taste.
The pungency of brie cheese can depend on both the height of its circle and the time it ripens: a thick "cake" will be much less spicy than a thin one.
Brie cheese production is possible practically at any time of the year. Camembert is rather difficult to create in hot weather conditions, and therefore its production is suspended for the summer period.
A distinctive mark of the quality of Camembert cheese is its packaging, which is a small wooden box. Thanks to her, this product can be transported over fairly long distances. Brie is not packaged this way.
Summing up, we can conclude that the difference between camembert cheese and brie is as follows:
- Camembert smells like mushrooms, and brie smells like hazelnuts;
- Camembert pulp is available in all shades of light creamy and white, while for brie cheese it is white with a gray tint;
- Camembert has a fixed size of a cheese wheel, and brie heads differ in diameter and thickness;
Camembert is a fattier cheese than brie.
- the moldy crust of Camembert is white, with a pungent taste and smell of champignons;
- Brie cheese has a white crust with reddish streaks, it has the smell of ammonia and does not have a pronounced taste;
- Camembert is made from September to May, and Brie cheese is made all year round;
- a real Camembert must be packed in a small wooden box.
