Advertisement
Crayeux de Roncq (Haut Artois/Ferrain Weppes)
Appears in
Published 2010
This is a modern style washed-rind cheese from a small family-run farm not far from Lille. Cheesemakers Thérèse-Marie and Michel Couvreur of Ferme du Vinage devised this cheese with the help of Philippe Olivier, who has made it his mission to revive cheesemaking in this part of France.
The marshy land in this area has many canals and tributaries rather like parts of Belgium and Holland, and there are even windmills dotting the landscape of patchwork fields.
The brick-shaped cheese is made with rich, buttery cow’s milk, and could be quite bland, but the affinage or ripening process gives this cheese its full flavour. The cheeses are matured for up to eight weeks in cold, damp, airy cellars with frequent washing in a mixture of water, salt and local beer. As the weeks progress, the rind turns orange and the aroma becomes more fruity.