what is the rind on brie cheese?
Brie cheese ripens from the outside and the rind is the slightly hardened outer skin which has reacted with the molds and bacteria in the air. In a true brie, the rind is really tasty, if you are accustomed to eating very flavorful cheeses, although it can be overpowering if you only eat mild cheese. I’ve eaten French brie and can attest to this personally. However, in the US, brie has to be made with pasturized milk, which tends to keep the rind less flavorful. According to the O-chef site, the rind actually starts out as fine white hairs, and grows into what the French call “poil de chat,” or cat fur. When that fur is removed, the rind is left. The brie I ate in France already had the poil de chat removed. Sources: http://www.ochef.com/765.
Brie cheese ripens from the outside and the rind is the slightly hardened outer skin which has reacted with the molds and bacteria in the air. In a true brie, the rind is really tasty, if you are accustomed to eating very flavorful cheeses, although it can be overpowering if you only eat mild cheese. I’ve eaten French brie and can attest to this personally. However, in the US, brie has to be made with pasturized milk, which tends to keep the rind less flavorful. According to the O-chef site, the rind actually starts out as fine white hairs, and grows into what the French call “poil de chat,” or cat fur. When that fur is removed, the rind is left. The brie I ate in France already had the poil de chat removed.
