Camembert wars get dirty in fight for France’s soul

Guardian

In his tiny workshop with a view of his cows, Francois Durand stood lovingly ladling raw milk curd into cheese moulds. After several weeks of salting, ripening and maturing, these would turn into the pungent, oozing Camembert that is France’s favourite soft cheese - as much part of the national stereotype as the Basque beret, the baguette and a glass of red wine.

“When you use raw, unpasteurised milk, the taste is nice and fruity,” Durand mused as he inspected the smelly contents of his ripening rooms. “You can taste what the cows have been eating at different times of year.”

Durand is the last dairy farmer in the tiny Normandy village of Camembert still making traditional, raw milk Camembert cheese. But the farm’s visitor book hints at the bitter cheese wars that have poisoned the air of the surrounding hills and dales. “Be brave!” urges one scribbled French entry. “Keep up the fight! Thanks for defending real cheese.”

For months, small cheese producers and Camembert connoisseurs have been engaged in a battle of David and Goliath, dubbed the “camembert wars”, which have captured the French imagination and seen Normans take to the streets to defend their cheese’s pungent tang.

And:

Along with the Eiffel Tower and champagne, Camembert from Normandy, made with raw milk, is a national icon in France. Campaigners are concerned its days could be numbered…

The fight for Normandy’s Camembert -Video.