Archive for the ‘Camembert’ category
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Truffle sounds festive high note
Monday, December 27th, 2010
It doesn’t take much truffle to make a difference to all sorts of foods: charcuterie; garnish; timbales; soufflés. Escoffier even cooked them in Champagne for some of his more select diners. For the 2010 festive season, when Isigny Sainte-Mère launched its Camembert with Truffles, regional paper Ouest-France interviewed director general Daniel Delahaye. He remembers truffles [...]
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Cooking up a storm a the London Jazz Festival
Friday, October 29th, 2010
Isigny Sainte-Mère chef Ivan Vautier will be appearing in the London Jazz Festival on November 13 to repeat the set he did with Andy Sheppard at Coutances last year. Accompanied by percussionist Michel Rabbia, and saxophonist Andy Sheppard at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Ivan will be cooking live again in Jazz et Cuisine. TV cameras [...]
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A living tradition has room for progress
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
How persistent is the appeal of a terroir today? In the second edition of Isigny Sainte-Mère’s company history, the author quotes recent surveys which found that 30% of all Europeans think that the provenance of a cheese is an important factor in their choice. Three quarters also responded that they eat traditionally-made food, which are [...]
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Concert piece
Saturday, December 26th, 2009
Speaking to the Isigny Sainte-Mère chef Ivan Vautier about his jazz concert performance with Andy Sheppard earlier this year, he was clear that he wanted to turn out recipes that would be impossible with a conventially-equipped domestic kitchen. His recipe for galettes, topped with a 65 degree egg and laid out on a cappucino of [...]
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A treat in store
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
As every Camembert is wrapped before going into its box, bear in mind that it is a living cheese and needs to breathe. That is why at least half the box will be made of wood, since boxes made completely of cardboard tend to go soggy, while the cheese does not travel well. The Camembert [...]
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The legendary Camembert name
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Given the enormous success enjoyed by Camembert, it is hardly surprising that other cheesemakers started to join in. The existing Camemberts had branding, but there was no legally binding description or appellation for the cheese, which sold by thousands across the country. In 1909, Camembert makers joined forces to organise the Syndicat des Fromagers du [...]
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The Camembert legend (3)
Saturday, August 15th, 2009
The Camembert that Marie Harel made would not have had the familar white downy penicillin crust of a modern Camembert. That came later.In 1901, Normandy’s Camembert cheesemakers sought the advice of the Pasteur Insititute in Paris. The scientific answer came back to innoculate the Camemberts with the candidum strain of penicillin. This prevented the subsequent [...]
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The Camembert legend (2)
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Endorsed by the Emperor himself, Camembert could hardly fail to take Paris by storm, as well as many provincial capitals. There was a very real result from these early travels: originally wrapped simply in paper, it rapidly became clear that something more substantial was needed to protect the ripening cheeses on their journey.In the 1890s, [...]
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The Camembert legend (1)
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
There are many legends that date back to the French revolution. However, few are as persistent as the story of Marie Harel and the origins of Camembert cheese.In 1791, religion was excised from the French state and priests were banned. Farmer’s wife Marie Harel sheltered a fugitive priest from Brie, even if she did not [...]
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How to ladle curds for Camemberts (2)
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
The hot work of ladling curds into Camembert moulds demands skill and dedication, not to mention unflagging stamina to last a shift of heavy work. For years, cheesemakers had dreamed of automating this part of the process, but these dreams were unfulfilled. The 1983 AOC status for Camembert made in Normandy gave a new incentive [...]
