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Île-de-France
Dubbed the 'cheese of kings' ever since Philippe Auguste treated his court to it, Coulommiers is Brie's mischievous little brother — too common for AOC, too briard to be forgotten.
Bloomy-rind cheese from Île-de-France.
The commune of Coulommiers, in Seine-et-Marne, has been known since the Middle Ages for its production of soft cheeses with a bloomy rind, made from raw cow's milk in the Comté de Brie. At the time, there were as many cheeses as there were farms, in terms of both shape and weight.
The fairs of Champagne and Brie — represented in Coulommiers by those of Saint-Denys and Sainte-Foy — brought renown to these local wares, which soon reached the tables of neighbouring lords, and even those of the kingdom's highest dignitaries: King Philippe Auguste served them to his court, and Charles d'Orléans, lord of Brie-Comte-Robert, ordered twenty dozen of them as New Year gifts. Curative properties were even attributed to these cheeses, to the point of offering them to lepers and plague sufferers.
However, the great Bries, whose diameter sometimes exceeded 40 centimetres, proved fragile during their long journeys from farm to farm. For reasons of preservation as much as transport, a smaller format was developed: a first 'coulommiers' came into being, and by the early 19th century people spoke commonly of 'fromage de Coulommiers', then simply 'coulommiers'.
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The coulommiers of the early 19th century had little in common with those of today, however: larger, richer in rennet, during maturation they became coated with a mantle of brown or dark green mould that had to be scraped off before tasting. The introduction of a microscopic fungus, Penicillium candidum, revolutionised production and gradually gave the Columérien cheese its present-day characteristics — a white, downy rind rather than dark mould.
The 'petit coulommiers' enjoyed its true boom in the second half of the 19th century, after attracting attention at the 1878 Universal Exposition. Its production then spread throughout France, far from its native terroir: the Coulommiers region, where dairy cow numbers remain modest, now accounts for only a tiny fraction of the volumes sold under that name — around 250 tonnes a year, shared between four Briard producers, compared with tens of thousands of tonnes of industrial origin. Artisanal production nevertheless persists around the eponymous town, particularly in the vicinity of Jouarre, Boissy-le-Châtel, and Doue, where traditional maturation in cool, damp cellars, on wooden racks, perpetuates local savoir-faire.
On 18 August 1980, a decree established the appellation d'origine contrôlée for the two great Bries, Meaux and Melun. Coulommiers was excluded: its 'insufficient output' denied it this recognition, even though it belongs to the same cheese family. Since then, it has not even been entitled to claim the name 'Brie'.
The town of Coulommiers and the Pays Briard have not given up: an initiative seeking recognition was relaunched in late 2009 with the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité, and the municipality officially submitted an appellation application in 2015. The struggle faces a fundamental hurdle, however — the word 'coulommiers' has become, like 'camembert', a common noun rather than a protected geographical name, complicating any bid for protection in the face of extensive production far beyond the Brie region.
Appearance
A disc 13 to 15 cm in diameter and 3 cm thick, with a maximum weight of 500 g (the larger farmhouse version reaches 20 cm in diameter and 1 kg). Downy white rind, dotted with tiny reddish flecks at full maturity. Straw-yellow paste, smooth and runny beneath the rind.
Aroma
Scent of fresh mushrooms, combined with aromas of cream and warm milk.
Taste
Slightly more pronounced than Brie de Meaux, with a touch of bitterness, but milder than Brie de Melun; fruity flavours emerge at the centre, depending on the degree of maturation.
Texture
Supple and melting, distinctly runny at the core when maturation is advanced.
the cow's milk is partially skimmed and then matured with lactic ferments for 18 hours.
drained and dry-salted, the cheese is then inoculated on the surface with the fungus Penicillium candidum.
three to four weeks at a temperature of 13 to 15 °C and 90% humidity, until the characteristic downy rind forms.
Each cheese is made from 5 to 6 litres of raw milk. It can be consumed from the fifth week of maturation; one must wait until the eighth to obtain a truly runny core.
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Coulommiers is at its peak of flavour between October and the end of March, when autumn and winter milk endows it with its full richness. It is best enjoyed at room temperature, on thick-crusted country bread — some particularly appreciate it on a slice with pistachios and sesame seeds.
As for wine, it pairs readily with a Beaujolais or a fresh Gamay for a traditional Briard breakfast, and with more full-bodied wines at the end of a meal: a Bourgogne from the Côte Chalonnaise such as a Givry or a Mercurey underlines its finesse and nutty taste, while a Châteauneuf-du-Pape or a Gigondas enhances its natural delicacy.
In cooking, the cheese has long featured in more elaborate dishes: it is said that Marie Leszczińska, wife of Louis XV, made her bouchées à la reine with Coulommiers, and that it was once used to fill pies made with fresh pastry.
Coulommiers currently holds no official appellation (neither AOC, PDO (AOP), nor PGI (IGP)). When the AOC for the great Bries was created on 18 August 1980, it was excluded on the grounds of 'insufficient output', even though it belongs to the same cheese family as Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun. An initiative seeking recognition was revived in late 2009 with the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité, championed in particular by the municipality of Coulommiers (an official application was submitted in 2015) and by defenders of the 'Pays Briard' — to this day, it has never succeeded. As the name 'coulommiers' has become a generic noun like 'camembert', protecting it remains legally complex.
Brotherhood
Large artisan cheese house
Family-run
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