Soumaintrain

What is Soumaintrain Cheese?

Soumaintrain takes its name from a village in the Yonne. The first records of the cheese date to 1631, though it is probably older: Cistercian monks were paying rent on their land in aged cheeses by 1117, and washed-rind soft cheese is the local craft, the same one behind Epoisses and Ami du Chambertin. The 19th century was its high point, when demand ran well past what producers could make. A defence and promotion association formed in 2011, the INAO approved the specification in May 2014, and the European Commission granted Protected Geographical Indication status on 14 June 2016.

It is a lactic-style soft cheese made from whole cow's milk, raw or pasteurized. About four litres of milk go into one cheese, depending on the size. During ripening, which lasts at least 21 days, the rind is washed with brine every two or three days. That washing feeds Brevibacterium linens, which synthesizes carotene and produces both the orange rind and the strong, characteristic aromas and flavors.

The wheels are round, roughly 12 cm (4.7 in) across and 4 cm (1.6 in) thick, weighing about 400 g (14 oz). The rind is slightly wrinkled and runs from pale yellow to ochre. Fat content is 45 percent. It is sold either ripened, with an orange rind, or fresh, when the rind is still white.

Soumaintrain goes well with a regional white wine such as Chablis, and it also turns up in a number of cooked dishes.

Eleven producers make it: seven farmhouse operations and four dairies. Most dairies use pasteurized milk, with Fromagerie Gaugry at Gevrey-Chambertin the only one working with raw milk. Farmhouse Soumaintrain accounts for 25 percent of sales against 75 percent for the dairy version. Annual production was 177 tonnes in 2017.