Britain could be on the verge of saving French cheese from extinction

Legend has it that Camembert originated in the French Revolution, when in 1791, Marie Harel, a farmer’s wife, asked a refractory priest she was hiding to cross Brie with an older Norman cheese called Livarot. The story is probably apocryphal, but the mythology surrounding Camembert has infiltrated the national consciousness.

The most likely story is that a group of cheese producers, led by one George Roger, discovered Penicillium camemberti At the turn of the 20th century, they were growing mold samples to ensure better consistency in their cheese. They later set up the first private laboratory to deliver cultures to cheese makers.

“It was only with the emergence of these isolated strains that we were able to get something that was sufficiently homogeneous that it could be transported, packaged and supplied to the customer week after week,” says Bronwen Percival. “It’s a commodified cheese by nature, and the mould helped to commodify it.”

There are those who would like to get away from Penicillium camemberti “As an artisan cheesemaker, by offering people these cheeses made from industrial strains, we have led them to believe that cheese should have this uniform colour; we need to fall back in love with the natural variations of mould that reside on these cheeses,” Percival explains.

Emily Monaco, an American writer and cheese expert who leads food tours in Paris, adds: “We’ve had a shift where we were looking for easy production and a consistent product, and now there’s a much bigger return to more natural products.

“I know it’s a shock, but I hope it will be a change towards a more varied and natural cheese landscape.”

But Monaco remains pragmatic about its ability to convince the average consumer to eat cheese containing scary new molds, at least in the short term. “That said, if we can find a way to encourage or induce the natural reproduction of these fungi, that will be the best way to ensure a sustainable future for these cheeses.”

In that sense, Myconeos offers a kind of compromise: a way to sustainably produce new strains that gives choice back to small producers. “I think there’s nothing wrong with having a more diverse selection of different molds to choose from, each with their own unique flavors,” Percival says. “What I’m excited about is a world where people are moving away from industrial crops to embrace the microbes that are naturally present in their own milk. In the meantime, are we happy to have new molds? 100%, go for it.”

Back in Normandy, Corentin Bodin salts delicate wheels of Camembert while reflecting on the situation. “In the past, Camembert had blue mold, and it was a different cheese. If the white mold disappears, it will be a different cheese. We must accept and live with the times.”

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