A small, soft, bloomy-rind cow's-milk cheese from Normandy with a velvety white crust and an oozing pale-yellow interior — younger and earthier than Brie but the same cheese family.
Camembert vs. Brie
The two most famous bloomy-rind cheeses look nearly identical but differ in detail:
- Camembert — small (~250 g wheel, ~10 cm diameter), aged 3 weeks, deeper earthier flavor.
- Brie — large (1+ kg wheel, 30+ cm diameter), aged longer, milder.
The flavor difference comes mostly from the size-to-rind ratio: smaller wheels mean more rind influence per gram of cheese.
Origin story
Marie Harel, a Normandy farm woman, is credited with creating Camembert in 1791 — though similar bloomy-rind cheeses likely existed locally before. The cheese was popularized when Napoleon III tasted it in 1855 and made it a court favorite. The wooden box, an 1890 invention by an engineer named Ridel, made the cheese shippable nationwide.
Camembert de Normandie — the protected version
Only cheeses meeting strict requirements can use the AOC label Camembert de Normandie:
- Made from raw, unpasteurized milk
- From cows of specific Normandy breeds
- Hand-ladled into molds (no machine forming)
- From farms in Normandy
Most “camembert” sold elsewhere — particularly in the U.S. — is industrial pasteurized cheese; safer, but a different product.
Eating one
A ripe camembert at room temperature should bulge slightly when pressed in the center. Eat the rind — it carries half the flavor. Pair with a crisp baguette and an apple.
Find more foods by letter
Camembert starts with C and ends with T. Browse other foods along the same letter.
Foods that contain a letter from "Camembert":