Explore the other creamy alternatives to Brie cheese and find new additions to your cheese board.
Brie cheese is a creamy, white, French cheese often baked in a pastry crust for an appetizer, but there are other cheeses equally as rich. If you enjoy the savory flavor of brie, try other soft, rind cheeses as brie substitutes. Exploring your cheese options will expand your culinary possibilities.
Explorateur Cheese
The richest bries are triple cream. Explorateur is a rich, triple cream cheese to replace brie types with a high fat content. Use it to replace an equal amount of brie in recipes or for serving. Identify explorateur cheese by its cylindrical shape and white rind.
Camembert
Camembert is a rich, creamy French cheese with a white rind and a soft texture. Like brie, opt for versions of Camembert cheese from France made with raw milk for the best flavor. Serve Camembert at room temperature or slightly warmed to enhance the texture and flavor of the cheese.
Reblochon
Reblochon is a ripened, white rind cheese made from French cow's milk. Properly aged, this cheese is creamy with a complex flavor. Over-ripened reblochon cheeses are bitter. The best way to avoid such bitter cheeses is to purchase your cheese from a trusted cheesemonger with a high turnover rate. Though the rind on reblochon is edible, many find it too pungent for their personal taste. Inform your guests of this if they are expecting the milder rind of brie cheese.
Paglia-Style Cheeses
Paglia-style cheeses can be considered Italian versions of brie. These cheeses are made in the Piedmont and Lombardy regions using cow's milk. Historically, the cheeses were packed in hay, giving this cheese type its name, "paglia," meaning straw. Modern paglia-style cheeses are wrapped in the same edible mold rind as brie instead of hay. Paglia-style cheeses have a natural combination of mushroom, garlic, onion and nut flavors, similar to brie. Use Paglia-style cheese in an equal amount for brie in recipes and on cheese boards.
Tags: white rind, your cheese, amount brie, amount brie recipes, brie recipes
