Brie à la Moutarde
|BrEE-ah-laa; MOO-tard|
Mustard and cheese make a good team: Mustard’s tang can add a bite to already-sharp cheeses, or it can provide a touch of brightness to extravagantly creamy ones. For fans of this pairing, Fromagerie Ganot’s Brie à la Moutarde is a must-try.
After shaping and salting raw cow’s milk curds, cheesemaker Stéphane Gay slices in half what would otherwise become Brie de Meaux—a classic bloomy-rind cheese—and adds a layer of local mustard. The cheese is then aged so that a soft white rind develops around the creamy paste and seals the mustard inside.
After five to eight weeks of aging, the wheel has a thick white rind that surrounds an oozing, straw-colored interior. The fluffy, buttery paste encases the filling on both sides, providing each bite with a creaminess that tempers the mustard’s tang.
Pair with some ham and berry preserves for an app reminiscent of a Monte Cristo, or with jam on a full-bodied cracker. To imbibe, a red Burgundy wine is our pick.
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