ODG Époisses

appellation: Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP)

place: primarily the department of the Côte d’Or, Burgundy, France

milk: cow (Brune, Montbéliarde, and Simmental Française breeds), raw, heat-treated, or pasteurized

type: acid-curd, washed-rind, soft, creamy

size: flattish rounds in two sizes, the smaller 95 to 115 mm (3¾ to 4½ in) in diameter, weighing 250 to 350 grams (about ½ to ¾ pound), and the larger 165 to 190 mm (6½ to 7½ in) in diameter, weighing 700 to 1100 grams (about 1½ to 2½ pounds)

production: three dairy plants and one farm, a total of around 1,300 metric tonnes annually

related cheeses: nonappellation Soumaintrain and Saint-Florentin and proprietary cheeses, including Affidélice and L’Ami du Chambertin, all from Burgundy; Langres and Munster from other regions of France

look for: a glistening cheese at its creamy peak (although some people prefer a cheese that is not yet creamy all the way through); full flavor from raw milk, if possible (only pasteurized-milk versions are sold in the US); best seasons May through July followed by October through December

taste: Like other washed-rind cheeses, Époisses smells stronger than it tastes; its flavors are garlicky, fruity, mushroomy, with a touch of barnyard and just a little animal.

drinks: Especially with riper Époisses, the old recommendation is good red Burgundy, but invariably the cheese cancels out most of the wine’s flavor, and the wine in turn does nothing for the cheese. A somewhat better theory is that the strong cheese requires a particularly strong red wine, such as a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. But I prefer a white Burgundy. And you can opt out of still wine altogether and go for Champagne (which works with many cheeses, although in a menu with a late cheese course it doesn’t fit the build of wines).

 

Époisses, the most Burgundian of cheeses, is a member of the highly delicious washed-rind family — powerful in its aromas, comparatively mild in flavor, and creamy to the point that it requires the protection of a box. The paprika red surface and its curious shine are natural effects of a good growth of les ferments du rouge (“red molds”), which are the essential flora of washed-rind cheeses. Époisses at its best has the wild, fruity, out-of-control aromas that some people find challenging.

The appellation covers a broad territory in Burgundy, but the cheese originated more precisely in the Pays de l’Auxois, where the village of Époisses lies. Farms in the area once produced either whole-milk cheese or butter (or sometimes butter and part-skim cheese, which was considered almost fraudulent), but Époisses specialized — it made only cheese. The explanation offered for today’s expansive appellation is that all of it is similar in geology and agriculture and provides good pasture.

The earliest mention of the cheese by name dates from just before the French Revolution, but during the economic disruption that followed very little Époisses was made. Eventually it rebounded, until by the end of the 19th century 300 farms may have made it. Then during the two world wars of the 20th century, cheesemaking suffered. The men went to fight, and the women had to do all the work; they had no time for cheese.

After the Second World War, French agriculture quickly began to modernize, and Époisses was considered old-fashioned. Farmers didn’t have to make cheese to have a product to sell; they could just sell fresh milk — a truck would come to the farm to pick it up. Farms grew larger and fewer. The small farms that had typically made Époisses were the first to give up farming. In the early 1950s, just two farms were still selling a little Époisses. Soon there were none, although here and there a farmwife might make the cheese for her family. Then in 1956, when it seemed the cheese would disappear forever, Robert and Simone Berthaut started up production at their house in the village and began to sell the cheese again.

Exceptionally, Époisses combines a washed rind with a caillé lactique (“acid curd”), meaning it’s set not primarily by rennet but by acidity, as if Époisses were a Loire Valley goat cheese. The result is a moist cheese with a fragile structure — not the most practical for washing. These days the milk is set into curd using commercial cultures and a small amount of rennet, which takes 18 to 24 hours. In its first days, the cheese is sprinkled with salt and dries a little, as yeasts and other microflora appear. These organisms lower the acidity of the surface, so the organisms associated with washing can grow. The cultures, which differ from one producer to another, are “cocktails” of selected species and strains and sometimes include wild ones that inhabit the environment of the fromagerie and especially the water or brine used for washing. Always the mix is dominated by Brevibacterium linens, the typical organism of washed-rind cheeses.

Washing takes place several times a week for about three weeks, while the cheese becomes more and more creamy. One face is washed at a time — really, rubbed by hand or passed over with a soft brush — so there’s always a dry surface to rest on the shelf. Initially, the liquid is water or brine, and then it contains higher and higher concentrations of Marc de Bourgogne, the regional eau-de-vie. Its alcohol dries the surface, making the outside firmer, or the luscious cheese might collapse. Besides, the marc adds its own flavor. The cheese must be ripened for at least four weeks before it can be sold as Époisses, but a producer may wait another ten to twelve days or count on the further evolution that occurs during distribution. And some people prefer the cheese while a noncreamy heart remains. Époisses, like other washed-rind cheeses, when poorly made or kept, or kept too long, can cross a line and become flatly distasteful. (In the past, when different kinds of small cheeses were preserved for long periods in various ways, Époisses was sometimes aged in ashes. A current version from Fromagerie Berthaut is called Aisy Cendré, but the ashes to my mind do nothing for the taste.) Although the pasteurized-milk versions of the cheese can be good, they seem to me less complete — less odorous, more restrained, narrower in taste. The four current producers of Époisses are Berthaut, Germain, Gaugry, and the farm-producer La Ferme des Maronniers. The last two make Époisses with raw milk.

It may be worth adding something about color, because the appellation rules allow shades anywhere from “orangey ivory to brick red,” and neither the lightest nor the darkest cheeses are the best. As explanation for the range in color, Georges Risoud, an agronomist, now retired, who was the force behind the Syndicat de Défense de l’Époisses, offered me a list of influences: the feed of the cows, the quality of the milk, the cultures used in cheesemaking, the acidity of the curd, the number of washings, the age of the cheese, the temperature in the aging rooms, the time of year, whether there’s a good growth of microflora on the rind. The milk itself changes every day. “Everything is variable and so much the better. That gives variety during the year, and the color shows the artisanal character of the making.”●

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