ブリー
ブリーチーズとは白かびチーズの一種である。フランスのブリー地方で1000年以上前から作られているとされる。ブリーを最初に食し、絶賛したのは8世紀のシャルルマーニュであったといい、ルイユ・アン・ブリーの修道院を訪れた際にそこで食したとの言い伝えがある。モー村（現在は都市）のブリー・ド・モーが有名。癖は少なく、しかも濃厚な味わいのブリーはフランス人を始め世界中に多くのファンを持つ定番チーズとされる。その他に同じイル=ド=フランス地域圏でセーヌ川上流にあるムランを産地とするブリー・ド・ムランがある。こちらはブリー・ド・モーよりも赤褐色を帯びており、前者とは異なる独特の濃い味わいがある。
Brie
Brie is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated. It is pale in color with a slight grayish tinge under a rind of white mould. The rind is typically eaten, with its flavor depending largely upon the ingredients used and its manufacturing environment. It is similar to Camembert, which is native to a different region of France. Brie may be produced from whole or semi-skimmed milk. The curd is obtained by adding rennet to raw milk and warming it to a maximum temperature of 37 °C (99 °F). The cheese is then cast into molds, sometimes with a traditional perforated ladle called a pelle à brie. The 20 cm (8 in) mold is filled with several thin layers of cheese and drained for approximately 18 hours. The cheese is then taken out of the molds, salted, inoculated with cheese and aged in a controlled environment for at least four or five weeks.
If left to mature for longer, typically several months to a year, the cheese becomes stronger in flavor and taste, the pâte drier and darker, and the rind also darker and crumbly, and it is called Brie Noir (French for "black brie"). Around the Île-de-France where brie is made, people enjoy soaking this in café au lait and eating it for breakfast.
