Époisses is a village in the Côte d'Or département of France, around halfway between Dijon and Auxerre, and also the name of a famous cheese that is principally manufactured in the commune.
Époisses Cheese
The village is most famous for its namesake cheese, Époisses de Bourgogne, a pungent unpasteurized cows-milk cheese. A washed-rind cheese, it is circular at around either 10cm or 18cm in diameter with a distinctive soft red-orange colour. It is sold in a circular wooden box, and is best served with a good red burgundy wine, or even Sauternes.
Napoleon was a particular fan of the cheese, and the famous epicure Brillat-Savarin himself classed it as the "king of all cheeses".
History
At the start of the sixteenth century, the village was home to a Cistercian community at L'Abbaye de Citeaux that, according to oral legend, began production of the cheese. Two hundred years later, when the community left, they left local farmers the recipe with developed over the next century. Although popular at the start of the 20th century, with over 300 farms manufacturing the cheese, production had all but died out by the end of the Second World War.
In the 1950s, M. Berthaut revived the tradition and is currently responsible for the manufacture of all fermier Époisses, although several artisanal fromageries now manufacture the cheese.
Manufacture
At the first stage of manufacture the whole milk is heated to around 30°C with the coagulation lasting for at least 16 hours. The fragile curds are drained in moulds, and the whey then allowed to run off. Around 48 hours later the cheese is removed and salted, being placed on racks to dry.
Once dry, they are moved to cellars to mature, with each being rinsed between up to three times per week in a mixture of water and marc, and brushed by hand to spread the bacteria evenly over the surface. The yeast and fermenting agents produce the distinctive orange-red exterior, as it develops over a period of around 6 weeks.
In 1991 the cheese was awarded AOC status, which states that the manufacture must follow the following rules:
- The milk's coagulation must be performed by lactic acid and continue for 16 hours.
- The curd must be cut roughly as opposed as opposed to being broken.
- After drainage, only dry salt may be used.
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