Camembert: what is it and how to eat cheese with white mold?

Camembert cheese is an exquisite dish that can be an ornament to any table. This product is used with pleasure in its natural form, and also becomes an ingredient for sandwiches, salads, pies and other dishes.

Description of Camembert cheese should start with the fact that it is a soft cheese with white mold. The taste and smell of the product is quite specific. Cheese smells like champignons or some similar wild mushrooms. However, some reviews contain comparisons such as "barnyard", "asphalt" and "land". It cannot be said that Camembert is bitter - on the contrary, its taste is very tender, sweet and creamy. The crust, by the way, is also edible, and the consistency of the pulp is viscous and extremely pleasant.

Usually Camembert is made from cow's milk, whole and not pasteurized, although goat cheese also takes place. The fat content of the product reaches 45%, which is not the highest. This kind of cheese will ripen from three to six weeks - by the way, the color of the head and even its taste will depend on it.

Determining the real Camembert, the first thing is to look at the crust - it must be dense, white, sometimes with brownish or reddish streaks. The cheese head may resemble with its shape a flat cylinder, the height of which does not exceed three and a half centimeters. The diameter of the piece will be eleven centimeters. Camembert is always produced the same size, in addition, packed in a neat wooden box. This container allows you to transport and store the product without damaging its external characteristics.

Cutting a piece of Camembert, you can find a light yellow flesh, very sticky and creamy. The consistency should be uniform and go from the dense edges to the soft middle. If the opposite is true, it warns that the cheese ripened in improper conditions. The crust should be white, although the situation with a gray-blue color is also possible.

To the touch a piece of fat and soft. You should not be afraid, if suddenly after cutting a semi-liquid substance is found - such Camembert is ripe and especially appreciated by gourmets.

Camembert is very useful for recuperation - both physical and mental, this feature explains the presence in the product of a large number of amino acids. Calcium and phosphorus are known to be responsible for strengthening the bone system, which means that nails, teeth and other parts of it will come to a better state. Camembert can even prevent the development of caries.

The presence of beneficial bacteria has a positive effect on the state of the gastrointestinal tract, and melanin in the mold prevents the appearance of burns after excessive exposure to sunlight. Of course, mention should be made of the fact that Camembert has an extremely low lactose content. This leads to the fact that people suffering from its intolerance, can easily enjoy cheese.

Camembert cheese is not recommended for use by pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under seven years of age. The problem is that the milk from which the cheese is prepared does not undergo pasteurization, which means that the probability of listeriosis is high. In addition, cheese should not be abused by those who have extra pounds, cholesterol and hypertension. Other people are only advised to stick to a nominal daily dose of fifty grams, and everything will be fine.

The caloric value of 100 grams of the product is approximately 300 calories.In addition, the same amount of Camembert contains 19.8 grams of proteins, 24.26 grams of fat and 0.46 grams of carbohydrates. Cheese is rich in various proteins and fats, as well as essential amino acids. Even in the composition you can find vitamins and other useful elements - mainly phosphorus and calcium.

It should be said that Camambert, unlike many other cheeses, needs to mature for a certain number of weeks. It is recommended to use it in food somewhere at the end of the fifth week. Therefore, buying cheese, be sure to look at its shelf life.

Of course, to use a dairy product with an expired shelf life is not recommended. In expired cheese, bacteria will begin to multiply and cause damage to the digestive system.

The main rule of use of Camembert - it can not be eaten immediately from the refrigerator. The fact is that at low temperatures the product loses its taste characteristics, and its texture begins to resemble butter, which is not very pleasant. Therefore, it is better to get it out of the cold, let it rest for about half an hour, and then use it.

In France - the place where Camembert cheese was invented, it is customary to serve it with a crust of fresh, rustic bread. In urban conditions, preference is recommended to give pieces of baguette, sprinkled with olive oil and slightly roasted in the oven or the crackers. If Camembert has a semi-liquid consistency, then a good idea would be to give him a spoon.

Cheese product can be served with a crust, and cutting it off - it all depends on the specific taste and aesthetic preferences. Of the alcoholic beverages, the most recommended is red wine. It is necessary to observe one rule: not cheese is an appetizer for alcohol, but alcohol is washed down with alcohol.

The French, the true connoisseurs of this cheese, prefer to do a very strange thing - cut the crust off a piece and dissolve the flesh in a cappuccino. It is believed that the drink is obtained and nourishing, and no less appetizing. The combination of cheese and fresh croissant will be very tasty. The combination of Camembert and honey, or berry jam with sourness, will be unusual, but extremely inviting. Do not forget about the possibility to add the product to the soup, salad or pie.

For example, with Camembert you can cook a wonderful fig-becon salad.

Ingredients:

• salad mix;
• 30 grams of finely chopped walnuts;
• three fig fruits;
• six slices of smoked bacon;
• several cherry tomatoes;
• tablespoon honey;
• one head of camembert;
• four toasts;
• a cup of flour;
• three eggs;
• mixture for breading.

Refueling will be prepared from:

• tablespoon of mustard;
• two tablespoons of wine vinegar;
• five tablespoons of olive oil;
• shallot bulbs;
• spice.

If the bacon is raw, then at first it is removed for ten minutes in an oven warmed to 200 degrees. At this time, halves of figs are fried in a pan in honey - no more than a couple of minutes on each side. Greens, tomato halves, chopped bacon and figs are laid out in a bowl, and the ingredients are covered with nuts on top. The head of the Camembert is cut into eight identical fragments, after which each step-by-step crumbles in flour, egg, and breading.

Dairy product is removed in a fryer, heated to 170 degrees of heat. You can get it when the pieces are painted in a golden hue.Having relieved of excess fat with a paper towel, Camembert will also have to be added to the common bowl. On top of all the dressing poured.

Camembert cheese at home is relatively easy to prepare. From the dishes will need to prepare a large pot, the volume exceeding four liters. Do not give preference to enameled or aluminum container. Then will need molds - cylinders with holes that allow you to decant the serum. Lack of bottom in this case is considered even a plus. Holes must be present in the covers. Of course, a thermometer is useful, but we should not forget about the plastic box, suitable for storage in the refrigerator.

Milk is better to take pasteurized, in the amount of three liters, and leaven - mesophilic, in the amount of 75 milliliters. In addition, you will need calcium chloride in the form of a single ampoule of a ten-percent aqueous solution, an enzyme capable of rolling milk, in an amount of 0.1 gram, and a couple of pinches of dry mold cultures. It is also worth preparing two thirds of a tablespoon of salt.

The milk is placed in a water bath and heated to 32 degrees of heat, after which the fire turns off. Sourdough is mixed with 75 milliliters of water to obtain a homogeneous solution, and then poured into the milk. Everything is gently mixed, and the surface of the liquid is covered with mold. For three minutes, the future cheese is stirred from top to bottom, and then combined with calcium chloride. After another ten minutes, the enzyme, previously dissolved in 50 milliliters of water, is added to the liquid. Everything is mixed and delayed a little more than half an hour.

After a specified period, Camembert will look like jelly. It is cut into cubes with sides of one and a half millimeters and set aside for about eight minutes until all the whey is gone. Then the cubes are put on the fire - the temperature is again 32 degrees, and everything mixes for about twenty minutes. The whey is poured into a bowl, and the dense part is compacted in tins, after which you have to wait a couple of hours and turn the cheese.

For the next four hours, Camembert should roll over every half hour. Finally, everything is laid out in a plastic container, covered with paper towels. The paper will need to be changed when it gets wet and the head is turned daily. In two weeks, a mold will grow on Camembert. It will be a sign that the product can be wrapped with foil and put in a refrigerator for a month until fully mature.

You can learn a lot of interesting information about this cheese from the video below.