Many brands and types of Brie jostle for space at American cheese counters, but a discriminating French shopper would probably disdain most of them.
In France, the finest Brie is made with raw cow's milk. In fact, the regulations governing the production of Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun – the two most esteemed appellations – require raw milk. That's why these two cheeses are unavailable in the United States. They don't meet our government's 60-day aging requirement for raw-milk cheese.
Consequently, French cheese producers have devised workarounds. They have developed non-appellation Brie from pasteurized milk for the American market, and they have figured out how to extend the shelf life of these wheels and make them more tolerant of the cold storage of supermarkets.
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