Peculiarities of making Mimolet cheese. Nutritional value and chemical composition of the product, useful and harmful properties. Dishes, interesting facts.
Mimolet is a pressed uncooked French cheese made from pasteurized or partially skimmed cow's milk. The taste is nutty, with a fruity aftertaste and tangible bitterness. The pulp is bright orange, thanks to the natural annatto dye used in the manufacture. The texture is oily, the consistency is dense, when cut it can crack and crumble. Large eyes can be found in the pulp. The crust is gray, with small cracks-passages, which appear thanks to the Acarus siro cheese mite, which is added to enhance fermentation. It is produced in the form of flattened balls with a diameter of about 20 cm. The weight of the head is 2-3 kg.
How is Mimolet cheese made?
In the production of this variety, the raw materials are pasteurized directly on the cheese making line. At the initial stages, Mimolet cheese is made, like other types of this fermented milk product. That is, ferment, calcium chloride and rennet are introduced into milk, distributed throughout the volume and left for curdling. The cheese grain is cut into cubes with edges up to 2 cm, no cooking is carried out.
Stir with slight heating, separate the whey, add the annatto dye, and then press, setting the oppression. After salting in brine and drying the heads, a cheese mite is added to them, which gives a special taste to the variety, enhancing fermentation. Thanks to microscopic passages, the pulp breathes, all processes are activated.
But these are not the only microorganisms that help create the Mimolet. Manufacturers often use nematodes - roundworms that populate the pulp and make moves in it, which has a beneficial effect on aroma and quality.
To prevent insects from gathering in one part of the cheese, it is rubbed with a brush and turned over during the entire ripening time.
Checking the ripening of Mimolet cheese is done as if checking the ripeness of a watermelon. They knock on the crust, but not with a fist, but with a wooden mallet, listening to the sounds that appear. Young heads with soft, spreading light flesh spend 2-3 months in the cellar, and mature, bright orange, cracking when pressed during cutting - up to 3 years.
- Prevents osteoporosis, osteochondrosis. Reduces the frequency of exacerbation of inflammatory processes of the musculoskeletal system - arthritis and gout.
- Increases the strength of cell membranes and stimulates the regeneration of organic tissues.
- Accelerates peristalsis, promotes the elimination of toxins and toxins, stable bowel function. Young cheese increases the activity of the beneficial intestinal flora and creates favorable conditions for life.
- Reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
- Stops the development of caries, improves the quality of teeth and skin.
- It helps to quickly satisfy the feeling of hunger, prevents attacks of dizziness, and has a tonic effect.
- Improves the functioning of the hematopoietic and nervous system, increases the production of hemoglobin.
- Increases the production of serotonin, improves sleep.
- Salad … Cut into small pieces 250 g of sweet cherry tomatoes and 3/4 of a head of iceberg lettuce, hard Mimolet - at least 10 months old - rub on a coarse grater. All ingredients are mixed, seasoned with 2 tbsp. l. olive oil flavored with rosemary, 1 tbsp. l. balsamic vinegar, a pinch of black pepper and salt, lime juice - halves. Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts before serving.
- Simple cheese sauce for vegetables … Cream, 200 g, heat, add 300 g of chopped young Mimolet, boil until a creamy consistency, adding chopped dill for taste - 3 tbsp. l., 2/3 tsp. caraway seeds, 2-3 pinches of coriander, salt and pepper to taste.
- Mustard sauce for meat … Cream is boiled with soft cheese until it is completely dissolved, the proportion of ingredients is 1: 1. When the liquid has evaporated by 1/3, add hot prepared mustard, pepper and salt to taste.
- Delicacy sauce with nutmeg … In a saucepan, melt 5-6 tbsp. l. butter, add 3-4 tbsp. l. flour, fry for 1 minute, stirring, so as not to burn. Pour in 2-3 cups of milk at room temperature and cook until the sauce thickens. Pour in a pinch of nutmeg, add salt and boil for another 2 minutes. After turning off, the sauce is filtered through a sieve to get rid of lumps. Served with seafood.
- Jeune, young - ripens no more than 6 months. Can be soft - ripening 60-96 days, as well as semi-hard. Elastic flesh that stretches after the knife when cutting, pronounced sweetness, fruity aftertaste.
- Demi-vieille semi-mature - they are raised from the cellars no earlier than six months after settling with ticks. The aroma is spicy, the consistency is denser, it is easier to cut. The fruity taste is pronounced, as the aftertaste is bitter.
- Vieille mature - ripens 9-18 months. Many winding passages from nematodes appear in the pulp, it becomes fragile, crumbles when cut, the crust darkens, traces of the tick's vital activity are clearly visible on it.
- Extra vieille, gourmet, extra ripe - ripening lasts at least 18 months. The flesh of the most expensive variety is so fragile that when you try to cut it, it splits like a ripe watermelon. The bouquet of taste is even difficult to describe - a bitter sweetness with a pronounced apple-grape hue, leaving a tart bitterness like honey. However, the seemingly thick chunks also resemble candied honey or overripe pumpkin. A red label is glued to the crust of this expensive variety.
Useful properties of Mimolet cheese
Thanks to a fermented milk product with a high nutritional value, the body quickly replenishes its energy reserve and restores the loss of nutrients. The tender flesh of a young head contains 33% of proteins, which is more than in poultry meat.
Benefits of Mimolet cheese:
Important! Young Mimolet has a mild diuretic effect, and mature Mimolet retains water in the body.
The introduction of this product into the diet stimulates the production of sex hormones, prevents the development of depression, stimulates appetite and reduces the likelihood of anorexia. If there is a place for this type of cheese in the daily menu, then by actively exercising, you can quickly increase muscle mass and form the desired volumes.
Young cheese Mimolet
harm can be caused by intolerance to milk protein, gastritis with high acidity and peptic ulcer disease, dysfunction of the pancreas and gallbladder, allergy to chitin.
Mature product
more salty, therefore, renal or hepatic failure, a tendency to edema, hypertension and varicose veins should be added to the contraindications.
Abuse of the product can provoke the development of obesity, impaired intestinal metabolism, constipation or diarrhea, persistent nausea and heaviness in the epigastrium.
Mimolet cheese recipes
Before trying this variety, the heads are cut and soaked in Calvados or other strong alcohol to kill insects. Young cheese is actively used for making salads and sauces - it is not very convenient to eat it, it crumbles a lot. But mature is served as an appetizer to noble wines - Bordeaux, Burgundy or the like.
Recipes with Mimolet cheese:
Read also how Metton cheese is eaten.
Interesting facts about Mimolet cheese
The history of this variety is quite long. The cheese makers developed the recipe back in the 17th century, at the personal request of Louis XIV. At that time, Holland was the main supplier of gourmet cheese to Europe, and during a protracted war, in 1675, an embargo was imposed on imports. So the king turned to the farmers with an order - to repeat the recipe of his beloved Eden with bright orange pulp.
The French producers did not stop at the exact repetition of the recipe. They achieved a delicate buttery texture of the pulp in young cheese, but since during ripening, ticks were added to the surface, due to increased fermentation, the variety began to play with new flavors.
At that time, the maturing heads were left for 2-3 months and the product was used soft and semi-soft, which is reflected in the French name - "Mimolette", from "mi-mou" - "semi-soft". Another name for the variety is “Boule de Lille” or “lily ball”. It is believed that it was named so because of the shape and location of the cellars.
Mature Mimolet gained popularity quite by accident. They forgot to raise the heads to the surface in time, and then found that the pulp had become similar in appearance to the mineral quartz and acquired a fruity flavor and a pleasant bitterness.
Currently, consumers are offered the following subspecies of the main variety:
In 2013, imports of Mimolet were banned in the United States due to the high content of cheese mites. The Commission for the Supervision of the Quality of Food and Pharmaceutical Products ruled that the use of the product is dangerous and contributes to the development of severe allergic reactions. Prior to that, cheese was constantly imported into this country: in 2012, 60 tons of this variety were sold in the United States. Cheese lovers have kicked up an entire social media campaign against the unjustified ban, but nothing helped. The customs service destroyed 1.5 tons of Mimolet that had already entered the United States, and since then no purchases have been made.
Our compatriots who managed to visit cheese fairs in France leave different reviews about this product. Some admire the exquisite taste of the mature variety and do not dare to try the stretching pulp of the young, while others refuse the test, having learned about ticks in the crust and nematodes that colonize the head. If you managed to get a Mimolet, it will take its rightful place on the cheese plate. And you shouldn't tell guests about insects, so as not to cause unpleasant emotions.
