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Label Rouge — Nord-Pas-de-Calais
An orange sphere with a grey, cratered rind, born of a rift with Holland — mimolette owes its colour to annatto and its nutty aroma to the patient work of cheese mites in the cellars of the Nord.
Uncooked pressed cheese from Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Label Rouge since 1996.
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In the 17th century, while the Kingdom of France was engaged in a trade war with the United Provinces, the minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert banned the import of Dutch cheeses, including Edam, to protect domestic production. Cheesemakers in Flandres françaises, around Lille, were then tasked with producing a local copy of this uncooked pressed cheese. The origin of its orange hue remains disputed: the Dutch are said to have coloured their export cheeses with annatto themselves to mark their commercial destination, while another version holds that it was French cheesemakers who chose this colour to assert the French origin of their copy and distinguish it from Edam, with its naturally pale paste.
For a long time, this round cheese had no proper name: it was called 'boule de Lille', after the city where it was sold, or 'vieux Hollande', a misleading nickname that wrongly suggested a Dutch origin when the cheese was indeed French. The name 'mimolette', derived from the 'half-soft, half-hard' texture of its paste, has long existed but only became established as its common designation after the Second World War. Even today, although production has spread to other regions, mimolette is most often matured in its region of origin.
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The maturation of mimolette relies on an unseen process: that of cheese mites, tiny mites that affineurs deliberately introduce onto the cheese. By continuously piercing the rind, they aerate it and contribute to developing the nutty aromas for which the cheese is renowned — it is this very nibbling that sculpts its grey rind, lunar in appearance and pitted with craters. To ensure this work benefits the cheese without damaging it, the wheels are brushed about once a month. This tradition continues notably in former textile cellars of the Lille metropolitan area, such as those of the maison Losfeld in Roubaix, cheesemakers for a hundred and fifty years, where walls over a metre thick maintain a stable temperature of around 12–14°C. The cheese is also said to have counted a famous admirer: General de Gaulle, who reportedly made it one of his favourites.
Appearance
An uncooked pressed cheese, hard to semi-hard, uniform in colour and showing rare holes. Its shape is spherical, slightly flattened at the top and bottom. Its paste, coloured with annatto — a natural plant-based dye —, takes on a characteristic orange colour that darkens with maturation. Its natural, grey rind takes on a lunar appearance, pitted with small craters hollowed out by the work of cheese mites.
Aroma
Nutty notes from an early age, which gain in intensity with maturation.
Taste
Supple and mild when young; as it ages, it develops more fruity and slightly sharp flavours, with an aromatic intensity that becomes pronounced in the vieille and extra-vieille mimolettes.
Texture
Supple and dense when young, it becomes brittle with maturation, reaching the hard, brittle texture characteristic of vieille and extra-vieille mimolettes.
Common usage distinguishes four ages: jeune (around 3 months), demi-vieille (around 6 months), vieille (from 12 months) and extra-vieille (18 to 24 months). The Label Rouge LA/26/89, for its part, reserves the 'vieille' and 'extra-vieille' designations solely for wheels matured in cellars for a minimum of 13 and 18 months respectively.
The curd is shaped into a spherical wheel, slightly flattened at the top and bottom.
The wheels are brushed about once a month so that the work of the cheese mites benefits the rind without damaging it.
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In the kitchen, mimolette pairs well with flavours of hazelnut, veal, chives or green apple. When young, it slices easily; older, having become too hard to cut cleanly, it is broken into shards or shaved with a cheese plane. As for drinks, extra-vieille pairs wonderfully with a brown ale or a Touraine Chenonceaux red wine, while younger mimolette favours a lighter red, such as a Valençay or a Côtes d'Auvergne.
Since: 1996
Area covered: Lille and the Lille metropolitan area (Flandre française), the historic cradle of the 'boule de Lille' — production has since spread to several regions, but maturation is still most often carried out in the region of origin.
Key requirements: Reserved for the 'vieille' (minimum 13 months' cellar maturation) and 'extra-vieille' (minimum 18 months' cellar maturation) designations; pasteurised cow's milk, hard to semi-hard uncooked pressed paste, a positive list of ingredients more restrictive than for the standard product, final selection of wheels based on their shape and rind appearance.
Only 'vieille' and 'extra-vieille' mimolettes carry the Label Rouge LA/26/89: jeune and demi-vieille mimolettes, the biggest sellers, benefit from none. Furthermore, the quality sign does not restrict any geographical area of production or maturation to a specific region — despite its nickname of 'boule de Lille', nothing prevents its production outside the Nord today.
Association
Dairy cooperative
Industrial dairy
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Isigny Sainte-Mère presents itself as a Norman dairy cooperative whose roots date back to 1909. It claims a unique terroir, a 50 km area around its Isigny-sur-Mer site that it describes as a "grand cru herbager", ideal for exceptional grass grazed by the cows of its member producers.
The cooperative says it unites milk producers and all its employees around a savoir-faire handed down over several generations. It produces butters, creams, cheeses, fromage frais and skyr, as well as infant milk powders — an activity it traces back to 1959. It also makes Caramels d'Isigny, confectionery that it presents as stemming from artisanal craftsmanship.
Isigny Sainte-Mère notes that it also caters for professionals — the "artisans du goût" — and has a dedicated space for its member producers.
Lyon
Mondial du Fromage et des Produits Laitiers · Tours
| Address | 2 Rue Dr Boutrois, 14230 Isigny-sur-Mer, France |
| +33 2 31 51 33 33 | |
| isigny-sainte-mere.com | |
| Visits | Musée du Beurre and guided tours by appointment |
|
Part of the production is certified organic, since 1997. |
