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Dutch Mimolette

From the north of France comes this hard, orange-y colored cheese whose other name is the Boule de Lille. Disputes still occur as to whether this is a French cheese or a Dutch cheese: the truth probably lies in the fact that the origins of this cheese lie in Flanders, a territory that was owned by the Burgundian Kings, and whose people are related both to the French and the Dutch. In the 17th century, foreign goods were forbidden in France, so instead of importing the cheese from the Low Countries, the French continued to make it themselves, and gave the cheese another name: "mimolette," which translates as little half-soft cheese.