🧀 Camembert
Also known as: Camembert de Normandie
A soft cow's milk cheese with a white mould rind; Camembert de Normandie is made from raw Norman milk and sold in a wooden box.
Camembert is a soft cow's milk cheese that ripens from the surface to the centre under a white rind of the mould Penicillium camemberti. It comes as flat cylinders of about 80–500 g. The name itself is free; only «Camembert de Normandie» is protected.
Why can a pack from almost anywhere say «Camembert», or «camembert-style»? Back in 1926 the Orléans court of appeal ruled the name generic, so the cheese inside may be pasteurised and made in any country. In the EU the one to look for is the PDO name «Camembert de Normandie» printed in large letters, usually on a wooden box. In 2025 a court in Nantes largely upheld the ban on linking other camembert to Normandy, though the origin of the milk may still be stated.
Camembert de Normandie, an AOC since 1983, follows far stricter rules. Its raw milk is never heated above 40 °C, at least half of the cows are of the Normande breed, and they graze for at least six months a year. The curd goes into the moulds by ladle or automated head in at least five passes, 40 minutes apart, drains for 18 hours and then spends at least 12 days in a ripening room. A finished cheese weighs at least 250 g.
The cheese is named after the village of Camembert, 30 km south of Lisieux. Transport made it famous: from 1855 trains carried cheese from the Pays d'Auge to Paris in under six hours, and around 1890 Rousset, an exporter from Le Havre, came up with the wooden box.
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that Camembert is just mouldy cheese?
Not in the sense of spoiled. The white mould is added on purpose and is a domesticated clonal lineage selected by humans; the Netherlands Nutrition Centre explicitly calls the rind edible.
Can pregnant women eat Camembert, or baked Camembert?
The NHS advises pregnant women not to eat mould-ripened soft cheeses with a white coating, such as Brie and Camembert, pasteurised or not, unless thoroughly cooked. The reason is possible Listeria.
Did Marie Harel invent Camembert in 1791?
The PDO specification calls that story unconfirmed. A dictionary of 1708 already mentions the cheeses of the area.
Camembert or Brie: can I swap the rules?
No. Both are soft cheeses under a white mould rind, but they are separate cheeses with their own rules, so read a brie's own label rather than assuming camembert's.
When can Camembert de Normandie go on sale?
Not before day 21, after ripening at 10–18 °C.
Facts
| Raw material | Cow's or buffalo milk 4; for Camembert de Normandie, raw cow's milk 1 |
|---|---|
| Country | France; the name «Camembert» is free 1 |
| Region | Village of Camembert, Pays d'Auge; PDO — Normandy 1 |
| Temperature | Ripening at 10–16 °C 4; PDO at 10–18 °C 1 |
| Minimum maturation | Normally from 10 days 4; PDO not sold before day 21 1 |
| Legal basis | Codex CXS 276 4; Camembert de Normandie — PDO 2, decree no. 2013-1059 1 |
Cheese
Camembert is listed among soft cheeses with a white mould rind. It is made from cow's milk: the curd is not finely cut but gently ladled into moulds, salted and seeded with Penicillium camemberti, which over a few weeks of ripening covers the rind with white down and turns the paste creamy. The PDO Camembert de Normandie requires raw Normandy milk and hand-ladled curd. Tip: take Camembert out of the fridge an hour before serving.
Composition per 100 g
| Fat | 24.3 g |
|---|---|
| Protein | 19.8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 0.46 g |
| Energy | 300 kcal |
| Calcium | 388 mg |
How it connects to milk
🧀 Camembert → made from → 🧀 Raw milk → becomes → 🥛 Milk
How it connects to Cheese
🧀 Camembert → kind of → 🧀 Cheese
Links
- Made from
- 🥛 Cow's milk, 🧀 Raw milk
- How it is made
- 🔄 Ripening
- Where it is stored or sold
- 🧊 Refrigerator
- Who works with it
- 🧑🍳 Cheesemaker
- What it contains
- 🧪 Milk fat, 🦴 Calcium
- Traditions
- 🌍 Western Europe, 🧑🤝🧑 French
- Product type
- 🏺 Traditional dairy products
- Part of
- 🧀 Cheese, ⚪ Soft cheeses with a bloomy rind, 🇫🇷 French cheeses
- Similar and different
- 🧀 Brie, 🧀 Brie de Meaux, Mlekovita La Polle, 🧀 Roquefort
- Wine and milk
- 🍷 Wine and cheese
What to read next
- 🌍 Western Europe — France, the Netherlands, Britain, Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg: a mild, moist climate, pastures and hundreds of cheeses such as Roquefort, Camembert, Gouda and Cheddar.
- 🧑🤝🧑 French — The French are the main population of France, known for the festive meal and baguette on UNESCO's list, for wine and for cheese.
- 🧀 Brie — Brie is a soft cheese with a white mould rind, made from cow's or buffalo milk; only Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun are protected.
- 🧪 Milk fat — ~3.5% in cow's milk.
- 🏺 Traditional dairy products — Products made for centuries to folk recipes: fermenting, cheesemaking, slow baking, drying. Tied to regions and peoples.
Similar
🧀 Gouda · 🧀 Cheddar · 🧶 Oaxaca cheese · 🧀 Queso fresco · 🧀 Monterey Jack · 🟫 Brunost
ℹ️ Dairy products contain lactose and milk proteins: if you are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk protein, ask a doctor.
What it includes
Sources
- Cahier des charges de l'AOP «Camembert de Normandie» (décret n° 2013-1059)
- eAmbrosia — EU register: Camembert de Normandie (PDO)
- INAO — Camembert de Normandie (AOP)
- FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius. Milk and milk products, 2nd ed. (2011): CXS 263 Cheddar, 266 Gouda, 276 Camembert, 281 Evaporated milks, 282 Sweetened condensed milks
- NHS — Foods to avoid in pregnancy
- Voedingscentrum (Netherlands Nutrition Centre) — Kaas
- Ropars J. et al. — Domestication of the Emblematic White Cheese-Making Fungus Penicillium camemberti (Current Biology, 2020)
- USDA FoodData Central — Cheese, camembert (FDC 172178)
- MilchPQV, Anlage 4 — Käsestandardsorten, gesetze-im-internet.de
- Cour administrative d'appel de Nantes, 10.1.2025, n° 24NT01125