Maroilles

Stinky cheese is great cheese.















Or I think so. Then, I came home last week to find my maroilles inside its paper, inside its plastic dish, wrapped in a bag and inside a pot in yet another bag in the fridge with a wee air freshener perched atop the refrigerator.

Apparently my flatmate does not.

Maroilles, from the Nord-Pas de Calais, is another of France's oldest cheeses. It has been produced in the same area since about 960 a.d. and owes its name to a small abbey in the Avesnois region where it was first made.

Note the white stamp in the upper left of the label. It is one of a small number of French cheeses to benefit from a protected label of origin, AOC, that regulates and guarantees its manufacture.

Maroilles is a washed rind cow's milk cheese with a soft paste. The washing produces the typical orange and slightly striated crust. It has a unique make process that after two, three, or up to four months of aging, results in its pungent aroma and delicate savoury creaminess.

Although I don't typically cook with cheese (especially with its pricetag), the traditional Maroilles dish, 'La flamiche' (similar to a quiche) is delicious. I prefer it 'as is' as a snack with a glass of beer or at the end of the meal accompanied by the remainder of the wine.

Comments

Barbara said…
I love a good smelly cheese. But it sure does smell the place out sometimes.
Mary said…
In case anyone is considering it, this is one difficult cheese to hide in carry on luggage. Don't ask how I know..

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