Fromager d’Affinois (fro-mah-ZHAY dah-fee-NWAH) is the best-selling brie-style cheese here at Tastings, but is actually different from true brie in many ways! It is a double cream cheese that goes through an “ultrafiltration” process which breaks down the fat molecules and removes the water. This concentrates the other components of the cheese-making much more luscious and rich than other double creams, and other bries! It has a high-fat content of 60%, higher than most traditional brie which hovers around 40%, and just under the 75% content of triple-cremes like Saint Angel and Saint Andre. Oh so mild and buttery, this is one that cheese lovers and novices alike will love. Bake in the oven with fig jam just long enough to warm and get slightly oozy, then dip pieces of a hot baguette in it. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Origin:   Rhône-Alpes, France
Milk: Pasteurized Cow        Rennet Type:   Vegetarian       Age: 2 months
Look: Bloomy white rind, soft white interior
Feel: Supple, soft, slightly firm
Smell: Mild
Taste: Mild, buttery, creamy, pleasant milky tang
Pairs well with: Champagne
Tastes good with:  Fresh fruit, honey, fig jam, baguettes

Recipes: Baked Brie with Moroccan Mustard
Duck Confit Bruschetta with Apples and Brie