Mouco Camembert
- Producer
- Mouco Cheese Company Inc.
- Country
- United States
- Region
- Colorado
- Size
- 2-3 ins diameter, 1 in high
- Weight
- 5 oz
- Website
- www.mouco.com
- Milk
- Cow
- Classification
- Soft
- Rennet
- Vegetable
- Rind
- Mold Ripened
MouCo Cheese Company is owned by Birgit Halbreiter and Robert Poland, who met while working for the New Belgium Brewing Company. Birgit, who is originally from Germany, has a background in Food Science and Robert was the Fermentation Manager at the brewery. In 2000, after some experimental cheesemaking at home, Birgit enlisted the help of her father, Franz, a master cheesemaker from Germany. Today, MouCo Cheese Company produces four types of soft cheese: MouCo Camembert, ColoRouge, Ashley and Truffello. Pasteurized milk, predominantly from Holstein cows, is sourced from Morning Fresh Dairy, located just outside Fort Collins. For production of the Camembert, the milk is heated and the cultures and rennet added. After coagulation, the curd is cut carefully to preserve as much moisture as possible and gently stirred before being transferred into the plastic cheese molds and allowed to drain. After a few hours, the cheeses are unmolded and salted which helps to kick-start the development of the rind. The young cheeses are then transferred to racks and dried slightly before being moved to the maturing cave. During this time, a white mold begins to develop on the exterior of the cheese, until after a period of about two weeks the cheese is ready to be released. At this point, cheeses are wrapped in a special foil, imported from Europe, that allows it to breathe and keeps it in good condition until consumption.
The thin, evenly distributed, bloomy white rind contains a meltingly soft cheese within. The texture is smooth and unctuous. Flavors are very clean and milky, with hints of grass and caramel.
