Livarot
Name of Group of Producers
82, rue de Bernières
14300 Caen
51 rue d'Anjou 75008 PARIS
Tel: (33 1) 53 89 80 00
Fax: (33 1) 53 89 80 60
Made from cow's milk, a soft-paste cheese with washed crust; always cylindrical in form, it is made in four sizes, in weights varying from 350 to 500 grammes. It is encircled by five bands or strips, formerly made of willow wood but now of reed or paper, from which the cheese takes its nickname "colonel".
Geographical area : the Auge district, a natural region of Low Normandy.
Livarot is one of Normandy's oldest cheeses; like Pont-l'Evêque, it claims to be the descendant of the Angelot cheese referred to in the Roman de la Rose, written by Guillaume de Lorris in 1260. Thomas Corneille, in his Dictionnaire Universel Géographique et Historique of 1708, recites its praises.
The curds, after being cut into large cubes, are left to stand then cut again, pressed, allowed to settle and put into moulds. After being turned several times and drained in a drying area, the cheese is salted with cooking salt or in brine. During its time in the cellar, it is turned over and washed at least three times with water, to which annatto is added for the final wash. It can be eaten after a ripening period of at least three weeks.
