When I began my cheesemonger career, our DPI trainer, Amy, took us on an odyssey introducing all the cheeses we would carry in our cheese kiosk. Among those she discussed was a big round cantaloupe-looking French cheese named Mimolette. It had a craggy, almost dirty rind created by cheese mites… yep… insects… insects named cheese mites… insects that eat cheese. I was instantly revulsed. How the heck could anyone eat a cheese covered in mites? How the heck would a company sell a cheese covered in mites? And then I tasted it…
Oh my, instantly I knew why people ate it and why producers made it… and I fell in love with a cheese that insects munch on…
When cold, the mites are dormant but if you leave a wheel out overnight on the counter, the next morning you will find little hills of dust… well actually excrement that the mites create when they “wake up” and go to work on the rind.
The rind is natural but hard and inedible; even without the added protein of the mites, you shouldn’t eat the rind.
The paste is fudgey and a deep orange from added annatto… a lot of added annatto. Sliced, it looks like a slice of cantaloupe. Mimolette is sweet with butterscotch notes that I enjoy with a glass of Prosecco.
Cheese lore has it that Napoleon was jealous of the cheeses of Holland and called in his favorite cheesemaker whom he instructed to create a cheese similar to Edam. Mimolette, known as Boule de Lille (after the city where created), was born. It sure doesn’t remind me of Edam but that was back in the day and I wasn’t around then – so what do I know?
You can buy Mimolette online by clicking here.
In addition to being an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.
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