Mon Dieu! Brie May Be Abdicating the Throne| Cooking Stories

Mon Dieu! Brie May Be Abdicating the Throne

According to this article in the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade's online food magazine, SpecialtyFood.com, soon brie may no longer be the queen of cheeses.

Please say it isn't so!

This writer of the article featured in the 10/23/06 email digest version of the publication believes that as the cheese industry grows and Americans become savvier cheese shoppers, they crave more flavors and types of cheeses from all over the world. The name "brie" is unprotected (and thus I do not believe it's a proper noun - I see it init capped as Brie in some places and brie in others - how's a grammar nerd to write about it?!?). There are many brie wannabes out there that have come to be known to many of us as brie, even though they're not true Brie the way God intended (I won't even pretend to understand the official French Brie rules and designations right now). I think it's kind of like Kleenex, which has become a generic name for "facial tissue" or Thermos, which has become the generic name for "insulated thermal container". So has brie become the generic name for many soft ripened cheeses.

The bottom line: Brie is slowly losing its coveted position as the queen of cheeses because the specialty cheese industry is growing so quickly. Read the entire article here.

While there are many soft cheeses I prefer over brie (Italian Toma comes to mind as a brie soft ripened cousin), I am rooting for brie. I cut my cheese teeth on brie back in the 1970s when Velveeta was the only "soft" cheese available in my house and memories of brie as an exotic treat linger like Limburger of the mind.

Long live the cheese queen.

Ann Zuccardy, Queen of Shortbread and Cheesy Analogies

P.S. I've also heard Brie referred to as le roi du fromage (the king of cheese), but I prefer to think of it as feminine.