Joan's Camembert Cheese

Here is the cheese after it was taken out of the mold on 1/22/13

To make Camembert cheese, cow's milk is curdled and inoculated with bacteria. The curds are packed into a cheese mold. This yields a crumbly cheese which softens as it ripens, eventually forming a cheese with a velvety white rind and a slowly oozing center.

Here is the cheese after it has ripened

Note the white rind:
The moldy rind is one of nature's greatest living surfaces, doing double duty as a shield and a cleaner. The rind allows the cheese's deep flavor and aroma to mature, but it also defends the cheese against microorganisms that could spoil it. The cheese repays the fungi on the rind by supplying it with nutrients.
For lovers of Camembert,
the downy white rind is the tart bite that balances out the fat-laden, oozing, pungent layer inside.
At the beginning of its ripening, Camembert is crumbly and soft; however, it gets creamier over time.

Here is the cheese cut and ready to eat.

As a general rule, Camembert cheese should be served at room temperature or even slightly warm. This brings out the buttery, slightly salty flavor of the cheese. The gooey nature of the cheese makes it very easy to spread, as well.

Here are the cheesemaker's
(i.e. Joan's notes)

The circled numeral 64 indicaters that this is the 64th wheel of cheese that Joan has made