Cheese Tasting in Normandy

 

We are villages but also cheeses. We are ... Camembert, Livarot, Pont-L’Evêque, Neufchâtel.

 

The acronym AOP (l’Appellation d’Origine Protégée) stands for the Protected Designation of Origin, a legal guarantee of quality. Today, nearly 600 farms produce milk for AOP cheeses from Normandy. Two thirds of Normandy AOP cheeses are made from cow's milk. Its diet is local, based on grass and pasture. The taste of the authentic!

AOP Camembert is the only one that can claim its region of origin, Normandy. An integral part of the Camembert de Normandie production area, our cheese dairy also responds to the four inseparable values ​​of its AOP:

• at least 50% of Norman cows,

• at least 6 months of pasture,

• raw milk,

• and molding in 5 ladles

Most popular cheeses of Normandy: Livarot, Pont-l’Évêque, Neufchâtel and Camembert de Normandie are all are soft cow’s milk cheeses that vary in shape and pungency. Camembert de Normandie is among the most popular French cheeses — a creamy, raw-milk cheese that bears little resemblance to the rubbery pucks sold in US. On the Normandy AOP cheese route you can visit producers who offer direct sales, visits to breeding and cheese making.

 

camembert cheese

 

Most popular producers of Normandy

 

• Fromage Durand
• Ferme du Champ Secret
• Fromagerie Graindorge
• Fromagerie de la Houssaye
• Camembert "Le 5 Frères"

 

Read also an interesting article from The New Your Times On the Normandy Cheese Trail.

 

How Traditional French Camembert Is Made

Camembert

 

Camembert "Le 5 Frères"*

 

100 rue de la Cayenne, Bermonville, Rue de la Cayenne, 76640 Terres-de-Caux +33 (0)6 08959197 

They are 5 brothers. The five brothers of the Bréant family. Three work on the family farm in Bermonville, the two youngest are still in agricultural training and will join production soon.

Together, they produce a camembert made from raw milk, ladled and molded by hand, which has been very successful since its launch. a cheese 100% made in Seine-Maritime that can be found on many stalls in the region.

Discover the video made in Bermonville at the 5 brothers' farm where the Camembert of the same name is produced.

 

"Le 5 frères de Bermonville"

 

• Opened from April 01, 2021 to October 31, 2021
• Individual visits upon request
• Average length of visit: 90 min
• Visiting languages: English
• starting from €5.50 per Person

  

Fromagerie de la Houssaye

 

Direct sale of AOP (l’Appellation d’Origine Protégée) cheeses from Normandy. www.fromageriedelahoussaye.fr.       Boissey 14170 Saint-Pierre sur Dives.                   +33(0)231206400. boissey@lesfromagersdetradition.com

The Houssaye cheese dairy produces daily, with milk from Norman cows raised on grass, Livarot AOP and Pont'Evêque AOP. "It is surrounded by natural sedges, cultivated near the cheese factory and made without coloring," explains the cheese maker. Another AOP in the range, the Pont 1'évêque, made with whole milk and matured for five weeks in cellars. Finally, another specialty of the cheese dairy is Deauville, a soft cheese with a washed rind.

As anecdote, this cheese factory was founded in 1810 by Michel Fromage (the family name means Cheese). Over the centuries, the Houssaye cheese dairy has grown and modernized, while keeping its typical spirit of the Pays d'Auge.

Affiliated with the Fromagers de Tradition, the company claims its commitment to the quality of the raw material. Its milk, collected from local producers, is therefore obtained from Norman cows, fed exclusively on grass and hay.

Cheeses being produced:

• Deauville
• Livarot laitier
• Pavé d’Auge laitier
• Pont-l'évêque laitier 

Open hours: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 

THE FROMAGERIE DURAND

 

La Héronnière – 61120 Camembert, +33 (0) 2 33 39 08 08, camembertdurand.fr

Durand is the only artisan producer of Camembert in the village. The cheeses are made here not only A.O.C., but also “fermier,” which means that all the milk comes from the farm’s own cows. The visit begins with the video. After the video You got to watch the workshop getting down to cheese molding. We advise you to take a walk around the barn, where you will meet the cows and understand where the milk comes from. Every morning, the Durand family collects the milk for the production of Camembert!

 

fromagerie durand

 After a very interesting visit, it's time for tasting! Camembert will be tasted with red wine and with Norman cider as well. Camembert Durand, made from raw milk, is sold at € 3.80 per piece.

Other local artisanal products are on offer : Livarot and Pont l´Evêque cheeses and Norman cider.

  

FERME DU CHAMP SECRET

 

La Novère 61700 CHAMPSECRET.  Visite : 06 80 03 29 64. http://www.fermeduchampsecret.com

The Ferme du champs secret is one of the few farmhouse producers in Normandy making organic Camembert with raw milk from their own Norman cows. 100% Norman cows, fed on grass and hay, gives us thanks to the cheese maker and its ancestral gesture, an organic quality Camembert, in PDO and farmer. The Champ Secret farm, no less than 3 generations.

The cheese dairy has been designed for visits. Large bay windows run alongside the manufacturing room and steam rooms so that visitors can understand where the product they are consuming comes from ...

 

FERME DU CHAMP SECRET

Some figures about 

• 100% organic. The entire farm is certified organic: organic farming.
• 90 cows and as many heifers. 100% Norman. 
• Our herd is made up exclusively of Norman cows.
• 5 people who work on the farm: 2 partners and 3 employees.
• 120 hectares is the area of ​​the farm.

Open for visits from 21 of June till 21 of September

• Group visits: upon request
• Individuals: open on Fridays from 4pm
• Visit with degustation: lasts 1h30 
• 3€ per Person.

How to come by car

In Dompierre, take the road between the 2 restaurants. Drive about 3 km. Turn left, place called: La Novère. Follow the path to the end. You have arrived !

 

 

FROMAGERIE GRAINDORGE

 

42 rue du Général Leclerc. 14140 LIVAROT-PAYS-D'AUGE. www.graindorge.fr  Tél. +33(0)2 31482000

Fabrication du Camembert de Normandie AOP E. Graindorge

Founded in 1910 as a family-owned operation, it was sold in 2016 to the multinational dairy corporation Lactalis. Today, the factory continues to produce the four A.O.C. cheeses. It is located just outside the small village of Livarot. The tour begins with a short video about the fromagerie’s history. Afterwards You can visit the Graindorge cheese factory through a corridor of glass galleries. You "ll discover how the cheeses are being made: Livarot and Pont l'Evêque cheeses with a protected designation of origin from Normandy. Free tasting. Visit recommended in the morning to see the production (be careful, no production on Friday). 

The measures in place for visitors:

• The Cheese Village has drawn up a health protection plan that takes into account strong restrictions (number of people admitted, hygiene, distances, etc.) making it possible to offer the safest and most pleasant conditions possible.

Visit:

• Duration of the visit: 1h30. Visit in French and English.All year round.
• In July and August: opening of a cheese bar!Welcoming each visitor to regulate the flow, no more than 10 people at the same time in the rooms, (to see depending on how things are going for groups)
• We disinfect all the handrails after each passage,
• Opening of all the doors avoiding touching the handles
• Mask obligatory for our visitors, (possibility to provide it on site, on request)
• Regular ventilation of spaces

Shop & tasting:

• Plexiglass plate in front of our cash register,
• Signage on the ground for distances and avoiding crossings of flows,
• Contactless payment, hydro alcoholic gel at all entrances,
• We disinfect all the handrails after each passage,
• We are equipped with gloves and masks,
• Regular ventilation of spaces,
• The tastings in the collective plates are temporarily suspended

 Opening Hours:

• From 02/11 to 31/03: Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• From 01/04 to 30/06 and from 01/09 to 31/10: Monday to Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. And Sundays in June from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• From 07/01 to 08/31: Monday to Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• On consultation for public holidays.
• Last visit 30 minutes before closing.