Cheese Database

Camembert vs Chaource

Camembert, field guide plate
Camembert, photographed

Camembert

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Soft
Type
Bloomy rind
Rind
Bloomy rind
Country
France
Place
Normandy
Status
PDO

Camembert de Normandie is a small bloomy cow's-milk cheese from Normandy, and the protected version of Camembert. It is made to ripen through, from a soft rind toward a supple center.

Chaource

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Soft
Type
Bloomy rind
Rind
Bloomy rind
Country
France
Place
Champagne-Ardenne

Chaource is a soft cow's milk cheese from the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It is a bloomy-rind cheese, with a white coat and a tall drum shape that stands higher than a flat Brie. A young wheel keeps a chalky line through the center and a creamier layer under the rind. As it ripens, more of the paste softens and the flavor fills out. The style sits closer to Camembert than to a washed-rind cheese with an orange coat.