I've made this a couple of times and adjusted the recipe to achieve the consistency/flavour I like, but it still needs a little adjustment, though I won't be getting round to that until mid-November, as we've decided to have one at Christmas. Some years ago I came across different and partial recipes from the 19th and 20thCs and some information from a French government site laying out the cheese regulations and part of the makes for some DOC and AOC cheeses. With those and my knowledge of the cheese itself, I worked up the recipe below. It's still not quite perfect; with the milk/cream I get it here in Glasgow it tends to be a little firmer than I ideally like. Next time I'll try lengthening the renneting time somewhat, though not to the length of a Brie or Camembert.
Pont l'Evêque Type
Type: Washed rind cheese
Milk : Cows' milk, unpasteurised or pasteurised. These days it's mostly made with pasteurised milk.
Aspect : Square moulded in three sizes, the medium one being at c. 11 cm x 3-4cm thick, with ridged rind. Up to
350 to 400 gr. in weight. 45% fat.
Country: Pont-l'Évêque, Normandy countryside. Originally a farmhouse cheese.
The make is roughly halfway between a Brie and a Reblochon and should not be runny when fully matured.
White and grey rind with thin orange and/or light brown stripes, or the white colour of the Pont-l'Évêque slowly turns to a light yellow with light brown stripes. Originally, the cheese was left to blue mould after the salting, but when the cheese was re-introduced after WW1, either an orangey b.linens. or annatto was used to develop the rind.
The texture is open and soft, but neither runny nor springy and the cheese glistens (like a Reblochon) due to the richness of the milk. The taste is creamy, finely textured and smooth and the aroma is pungent; the taste has a bite to it if the rind is eaten. The rind is ridged at top and bottom by the mats it stands on and is curdy at the sides; it should not be thick and can be eaten.
Ingredients:
7 1/2 imp. pts. of pasteurised whole milk; 1/2 pint single cream; 1oz creme fraiche, left out of fridge overnight and mixed with a mug of the cheese milk; 1/4 tsp CalcCl2; 1/4 tsp animal rennet; 1/4 oz salt ; an 11.5cm square x 6 cm high bottomless mould; 3%brine+1/16 tsp b. linens solution - enough for 5-6 washes.
Make:
Milk and cream is heated gently to 85F/29C and starter added. Ripen for 15 mins
Add CalcCl2 and further ripen for 15 mins. Maintain temp.
Add rennet - floc time, 15mins. cut at 30 mins. Maintain temp.
The curd is cut into 3 cm strips, with no horizontal cutting except at ladling.
Stir/move around gently by hand intermittently for 5-10 mins, or until curds firm up but are not hard, in order to drain off the whey.
Let curds settle - up to 5 mins, or as soon as done.
Ladle gently into an 11.5cm square x 6 cm high bottomless mould* placed on a straw, reed or sushi mat. Ladle in more curds as the whey drains to top up the mould.
Drain at room temp - 63-70F/22°C (the cooler the better).
Cover mould with a reed mat and flip every 2 hours for 8 hours.
Once most of the whey is drained away, the cheese is placed in a cave at 58F/85-90%RH for five days where it is turned at least once daily.
Keep in mould (originally metal) for 2 or 3 days, if necessary.
After 5 days, dry salt on all sides and leave cheese in its brine for a day, flipping once.
Once it is brined, mature in a cave @ 56F/85-90%RH and flip at least once a day.
The day after brining, the cheese is blotted with paper towels and left for a further day.
Next day, if cheese is dry, the washing and brushing starts. Use a 3% brine and b. linens wash every two days for 6 days, then every three days for 6 days. Make up a solution, but only use a little at each wash. Do not soak cheese in wash, but just pour out about 1/5 of the solution and smear on cheese gently with a clean rag. Stop when b.linens forms a light covering of colour.
3% brine and brush to destroy any blue mould, but let geo. go if it appears, though brush it down.
If the cave is a plastic box, wipe up whey and dry inside of the lid daily; use fresh mats when turning.
Mature for at least 2 weeks, though most are left for over 6 weeks. Continue to brush while maturing.
* You might need 2 moulds with this amount of milk; it depends on the milk/cream quality. If you have only one such mould, one or two 4" Camembert moulds will deal with the residue. I made my first square mould with 4 heavy cardboard strips about 14 cm x 6cm, wrapped with foil and then plastic wrap. I cut slots in each strip halfway through on one of the long sides at an 11.5 cm interval, then slotted the 4 pieces together to form a square mould. It just about held together through the make. I've since made one on the same principle by cutting down polypropylene storage boxes. As the slots uncouple, it makes the mould easy to wash and sterilise.
If using raw milk, leave out the culture and CalcCl2 and proceed with warming the milk gently and adding rennet.
The yellowish and red stripes may develop if the cheese rind is ridged during moulding and is regularly brushed; otherwise it'll be mainly orange/red.
