Currently to get the denomination 'Camembert of Normandy AOP' the product must be made with unpasteurized milk. At least 70% of cows in the region of Normandy, They should be fed with grass from the area rich in legumes and grasses. Besides the cheese It must be made in a traditional way with a saucepan, as established by the old canons.
Well, from 2021 the aforementioned denomination can be obtained although all the milk is pasteurized. What has unleashed a strong controversy between gourmets and cheese lovers in France and out of it. They consider that part of its organoleptic attributes will be lost.
Currently to elaborate the Normandy Camembert AOP two and a quarter liters are used milk in each cheese of 250 grams. These have a fat content of 45% and milk never exceeds a temperature above 40ºC. Its maturation period ranges between four and five weeks.
It should be noted that more than 95% of the Camembert marketed is simply marked with a “made in Normandy”. In other words, of the 60.000 tons, only 5.000 are produced as a brand name.
As they say from the denomination, they do not understand the created discomfort. Although they recognize that they have yielded. They are convinced that in this way they will be able to control and increase the average quality of the product and be more competitive.
On the other hand, critics of the measure believe that the best way to increase quality is not to have yielded. In the same way that they did the Roquefort or I compiled, since with this transfer it would be a mediocre product.
El Camembert not only occurs in France, where it is one of the star cheeses. It is also made in Switzerland, Germany, Québec (Canada), Great Britain or Belgium, without having strict norms of elaboration.
