Neufchâtel Cheese

Neufchâtel cheese history

Neufchâtel is a very antique cheese, doubtless the oldest Normand cheese. Probably it was already elaborated in the VI C, and officially attested in 1050.

A legend says that for New Year Celebrations during the Hundred Years War, young ladies offer heart-shaped cheeses to the English soldiers as a love proof.
In the XVII C it was taken to Paris and Ruan, and exported to Great Britain. But from 1880 its history speeded up: that year a farmer called Isidore Lefebvre opened a cheese factory in Nesle-Hodeng at which he could mold and mature the rennet produced in the surrounding farms. Among his distributors there would be Harrods big stores in London.

Neufchâtel is, certainly, the oldest Normand cheese, elaborated in Pays de Bray, a region in High Normandy, and more precisely near Neufchâtel-en-Bray.

Characteristics

It has a delicious heart shaped aspect. It is a cow-milk cheese presented as a creamy paste with a flowering rind.
Its paste is golden yellow, soft and creamy, with a slight mold scent. It is covered with a white fuzz which becomes golden as its healing goes on.

Presentation

• Heart-shaped unit: 100 g.

Gastronomía

Its strong sweet taste perfectly marries with fruity red wines, and when it is too mature the powerful wines appraise its strong flavor.
Neufchâtel, if fresh, perfectly integrates in numerous salty as well as sweet preparations.

Recipes with Neufchâtel cheese

Flavor development

• Beginning of maturity Center: White and firm
• Semi maturity Center: small and firm
• Complete maturity All creamy

Cheese conservation advices

Nutricional information

Portion: 30 g. (1 slice)

	Amount per portion	% VD (*)
Energetic value	109 kcal = 459 kj	5
Carbohidrates	0,6 g	0
Proteins	4,9 g	7
Total fat	9,7 g	18
Saturated fat	5,7 g	26
Trans fat	0,00 g	(-)
Dietary fiber	0,00 g	(-)
Sodium	177 mg	5
Calcium	155 mg	16
Vitamin A	96 ug	16

(*) Daily Values for a 2000 Kcal or 8000 kj diet. Daily values can be higher or lower depending on energetic needs.