Brillat-Savarin

The Cheese

More About the Cheese

Brillat-Savarin cheese is named after the most famous French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. He lived during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the cheese was created in Burgundy in the late 19^th century as a triple-cream cheese in his honour. Triple-cream cheeses are made by adding extra cream to the milk during the cheese-making process which suited his belief in immersive food and drink experiences.

It is cake shaped, usually 1-2kgs in weight, 22-24cm in diameter and 8cm tall.  The rind is very fragile with tall mould stems (hyphae), touching it gives an impression of warm snow. Superficially it is similar in style to Brie or Camembert, but its cake like shape and extra fats make it contrarily simple yet luscious, sometimes described as “the foie gras of cheeses”.

Tasting Notes for Brillat-Savarin

1. Body and Texture: Brillat-Savarin has a luxurious, velvety texture that is creamy and luscious on the palate. Its interior is two tone, with a clotted cream like texture under a bloomy soft and gentle, and a moussey centre. 
2. Tastes: The cheese is usually in two parts:
   • The centre: the mousse at the centre is predominantly sour and salty
   • The ripening under the rind: the ripened layer of cheese under the rind is more savoury and salty with creamy sweetness and less sourness. Older cheeses can become fully ripe and the mousse entirely consumed
3. Dairy Flavours: fresh milk, notes of whipped cream, butter, and a yogurt-like tang in the centre sections
4. Ripening Flavours:
   • earthy and mushroom-like
   • clotted cream, hints of vanilla
   • less common
     • nuts and nut-butter-like notes near the rind
     • hints of truffle and herbaceousness

It is a great cheese for champagne.