Epoisses de Bourgogne
Époisses de Bourgogne is a soft, washed rind cow's milk cheese from the village of Époisses in Côte-d'Or, Burgundy. Its rind is washed in brine and Marc de Bourgogne, which gives the cheese an orange-red surface and a strong smell.
Key Facts
| Country of Origin | France |
| Specific Origin | Côte-d'Or, Burgundy, France |
| Milk Type | Cow's milk |
| Milk Treatment | Unpasteurized |
| Rind | Washed |
| Texture | Soft, smear-ripened |
| Aroma | Pungent, spicy |
| Colors | Orange-red rind |
| Forms | Circular, 10 cm (4 in) or 18 cm (7 in) in diameter, sold in a round wooden box |
| Age | Around six weeks |
| Rennet Type | None, lactic acid coagulation |
| Also Known As | EPOISSES (AOC) |
What is Epoisses de Bourgogne Cheese?
Époisses comes from the village of Époisses and the land around it, in the Côte-d'Or, roughly halfway between Dijon and Auxerre. Oral legend traces the cheese to Cistercian monks at Cîteaux Abbey in the early sixteenth century. When the community left about two hundred years later, local farmers took over the recipe and worked on it for another century. Napoleon was fond of it.
Production fell away after the First World War and had almost stopped by the 1950s. In 1956 Robert and Simone Berthaut restarted it by gathering the few people who still knew the method. Their son Jean Berthaut runs the business today, and Fromagerie Berthaut makes all fermier Époisses, though several artisanal dairies now make it too.
Whole milk is warmed to about 30 °C (86 °F) and left to coagulate for at least 16 hours. The fragile curds go into moulds to drain, and the whey runs off. About 48 hours later the cheese is turned out, salted and dried on racks, then moved to a cellar. There it is rinsed up to three times a week in water and marc and brushed by hand, so the bacteria spread evenly. The orange-red surface builds up over roughly six weeks.
The finished cheese is a circle of about 10 cm (4 in) or 18 cm (7 in) across, with a soft red-orange washed rind and a pungent soft paste. The rind can be eaten. It is sold in a round wooden box.
The cheese received AOC status in 1991. The rules require lactic coagulation lasting 16 hours, curd that is cut roughly rather than broken, and dry salt only after drainage. Only cheese made in listed communes of the Côte-d'Or, Haute-Marne and Yonne may use the name.
How Does Epoisses de Bourgogne Cheese Compare?
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