This year, for my birthday, my friend Amy gave the gift of cheese! The first cheese I got to sample was Livarot is a washed rind cheese that hails from Normandy. It’s made from cow’s milk, and is shipped in a wood box, wrapped with strips of paper (or bullrush leaves) in a five-band pattern, which gives rise to the knickname The Colonel. The particular cheese I had was a Petit Livarot de la Perelle.
The cheese has an orange-reddish rind, which results from the washing, which promotes the bacterim Brevibacterium linens, the rind is slightly sticky, and pungent. And when I say pungent, I mean, my wife wouldn’t let me keep it in the fridge more than a day pungent!
If you can get past the smell–and I highly recommend that you do! You will find a cheese that is very, very delicious and not nearly as strong as the smell would indicate. The interior ranges from slightly runny to more firm, with a few small holes and a light, straw yellow color.
The taste is milder, with a very slight gaminess–mostly a hold-over from the rind smell. Getting away from the area closer to the rind, it is a very pleasant, mild taste with a little bit of spice and a slight hint of pepper. It’s a complex cheese that doesn’t really need any accompaniment, I just enjoyed it straight up, by itself.
The washed rind cheeses aren’t for everyone, it takes a lot of people a while to get past the pungent smell. But I invite you to be adventurous and give it a try, you might be surprised that something that smells so strong could be so mild and delicious!