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HEThe ultimate Halloween 🇫🇷 cheese? Mimolette. 🎃🧀 Its bright orange color is all natural, thanks to annatto, a plant-based dye, and it tastes as magical as it looks.
I went to Isigny Sainte Mère @isignyamerica in Normandie to see how it’s made, starting with milk from les vaches normandes. At a small family farm, I met Coralie and Valentin, the kindest couple who milk their cows twice a day and treat each one like family. Oui, even Rihanna and Nietzsche (every cow here has a name!)
Isigny Sainte Mère is a farmer owned cooperative that’s been crafting fromages, beurre, and crème since 1909. For Mimolette, the milk is warmed, rennet added, and the curds pressed into round molds before being salted and aged in the caves d’affinage. #IsignyPartner AD
In the first weeks, each wheel is hand flipped every two days. Later comes my favorite ritual: the hammer test. Cheesemonger (🇫🇷affineur) Ludovic, the only person here with the gift, taps each wheel with a wooden mallet to hear how it is aging. He is known as the 🇫🇷sonneur de fromage in French (literally “the cheese sounder”)!
Depending on the aging (🇫🇷l’affinage) — 6 to 24 months — Mimolette shifts from semi-soft and mild to nutty, dry, and full of caractère. Have you ever tried Mimolette before? Would you go for it young and creamy, or aged and full of bite?
Isigny cheeses are sold outside of France in select supermarkets and online. Check @isignyamerica link in bio to find where you can get Mimolette near you. 🐄🥖
✨ French Vocab Corner ✨
- hard cheese = un fromage à pâte dure
- aging = l’affinage
- cream = la crème
- aging cellar = une cave d’affinage
- mimolette = la mimolette
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Filming & Editing: @fabien_lasserre
Color Grading: Laurent Mathieu
Art Direction: @j_p_nyc
Coordination: @tomrougereau
@hellofrench
