Brie de Meaux is said to have originated from the abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Jouarre. In 1793, François Joachim Esnue-Lavallée praised it: "Brie, loved by rich and poor alike, preached equality before anyone had ever imagined it possible".
This cheese was crowned "king of cheeses" by Talleyrand during the Congress of Vienna, whose closing banquet took place on 9 June 1815. Talleyrand had previously claimed that no cheese was as good as Brie.
Metternich, annoyed that his "Bavarian Blue" was not recognised as the best, decided to organise a tasting of the fifty-two regional cheeses represented by the participants from the various countries at the final banquet of the Congress. At the end of the tasting, it was Prince Metternich himself who proclaimed Brie the "Prince of cheeses and first of desserts".
Originally produced only in the region around Meaux, from 1953 onwards this territory extended eastwards to the Meuse. It obtained the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée on 18 August 1980.
Data sheet
- MILK
- raw milk cow's milk
- TEXTURE
- Flexible
- ALLERGEN
- Milk
- GRASSE MATERIAL
- 28 %
- PROVENANCE
- Ile-de-France
- SEASON
- Avril à Décembre
- SUGGESTED WINE
- Beaujolais
- INTENSITY
- médium
- APPELLATION
- AOP
Specific References
- EAN13
- 3879288740000
Brie de Meaux PDO
It is a raw milk cheese, hand-moulded, with a white downy bloomy rind and reddish pigments. Its straw-yellow paste is soft and not runny.
Made from raw cow's milk.