Camembert de Normandie AOC

Camembert was reputedly first made in 1791 by Marie Harel, a farmer from Normandy, following advice from a priest who came from Brie. She is credited with having refined a previously existing cheese recipe from the Pays d’Auge region and having launched it into the wider world. Madame Harel passed her secrets on to her daughter, whose husband, Victor Paynel, presented one of his wife’s best cheeses to Napoleon III, who gave to it his royal seal of approval 

The cheese is made using traditional methods and raw milk and is named after the picturesque village near Vimoutiers, in the Orne region of Normandy.  Camembert de Normandie AOC has a soft bloomy white rind caused by a white fungus (penicillium candidum) which is intended to be eaten with the cheese.

True AOC (Appellation d’origine contrôlée) Camembert is only applicable if produced using raw, unpasteurised milk, following the same process as Marie Harel. Though today many “Camembert’s” are produced with pasteurised milk in Normandy and are acceptable, having transcended the AOC designation.

The cheese was famously issued to French troops during World War I, becoming firmly fixed in French popular culture as a result. It has many other roles in French culture, literature, and history. It is now internationally known, and many local varieties are made around the world. The variety named Camembert de Normandie was granted a protected designation of origin in 1992 after the original AOC in 1983. The AOC Camembert can only be made from raw, unpasteurised milk from Normandes cows.