The Epoisses cheese making know-how was transmitted by the Cistercian monks to the women of the Auxois region and handed down orally generation after generation from mother to daughter. The oldest written accounts of Epoisses cheese making date back only as far as the 19th century.
The know-how required is almost unique in France, and demands both enormous skill and passion. The technique of producing Epoisses is now perfectly modernised and safe from a health perspective, but the manufacturing process remains unchanged.
What is the definition of a “washed rind soft cheese”?
A “soft” cheese is a cheese which is neither heated nor pressed, and will therefore have a creamy and smooth consistency, and may even be runny when completely mature. The “washed rind” applies to cheeses that undergo a particular maturing process. The cheese is washed with salted water and brushed in order to develop the maturity of the rind. For some cheeses, alcohol or wine is added to the brine. Epoisses, for example, is matured with Marc de Bourgogne.
Epoisses thus has the following characteristics: smooth and creamy right to the heart with a fruity and aromatic rind that encapsulates its unique identity and character.
