Boursin (& Bourault) Cheese Making Recipe?

[umgowa]

Does anyone know why there is not a recipe on this web site for Boursault Cheese?  There are recipes for many other cheeses.  Is Boursault particularly difficult to make?  I also noticed there are no cheese categories in the forum which include Boursault.  As you know it is a type of cheese (often called Boursin) which is very popular and widely distributed here in the U.S.  Any insights here would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[Alex]

Boursault and Boursin are two different types of cheeses. Both are industriel cheeses.

Boursault is made from cow's milk enriched with cream, has a mild flavor reminiscent of Brie and a slight acidity. It was first made after WWII, in the Loire Valley in France, and was named after its creator Henri Boursault in 1953. It is a soft creamy cheese, uncooked, unpressed, rind of very light white mould with a slight smell of mould. Affinage lasts two month. The size is 8 cm diameter, 4 cm high and weighs about 200 grams.
So, make a Boursault sized Brie and "be happy" .

Boursin is made from cow's milk enriched with cream, its a soft, creamy cheese from Normandie, first produced by Francois Boursin in 1957, with no affinage. Its available in a variety of flavors, such as black pepper and garlic with herbs. The texture is spreadable like cream cheese. The size is 8 cm diameter, 4 cm high and weighs about 150 grams.

[Cheese Head]

umgowa, from my French Cheeses book Boursault & Boursin are double cream industrial (ie never farm made) cheeses], but from a Boursault info page they call it triple cream. Wikipedia also says Boursin is a brand name rather than an ancient artisanal cheese. As both of these are industrial, their recipes are proprietary (ie secret) and thus not known, at least to no-one here.

As far as I know, only michoutin here has tried to emulate Boursault (see post after my first link above) and I'm the only one who's tried to emulate Boursin, using cream cheese as my base.

While I try to update the lists of cheese types in each section based on what is reasonably popular, the reason I haven't listed them is combination of there being 1500+ cheeses in the world and thus too many to list and that they are both brand name cheeses, (at least I think Bousault is).

Sorry can't be of more help, good luck in your effort to recreate them, I like Boursin and would be very interested in any info you can find.

[Brie]

Oh my, so rich and creamy--here's a recipe I concocted, when my Milk Man gave me some cream and butter:
To begin, follow recipe from Webmaster for Cream Cheese.
16 ounces of fresh cream cheese, drained
8 ounces butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh Italian Parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
1 tablespoon black pepper, toasted and coarsley crushed
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
Salt to taste
Whip all together and pack into containers. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours to allow flavors to combine.
Of course, herbs may be altered to suit your fancy--but this recipe does replicate what we all know as boursin--enjoy!

[Cheese Head]

Brie, thanks, appreciated, you made me remember this post I made from a couple years ago on Boursin that had similar ingredients.

For others, who don't know what we are talking about, the above link also has pictures of some Light Boursin I bought.

[leedsfan]

I am making Boursin regularly and I use a cream cheese base, then add butter and freeze dried garlic chips, freeze dried parsley flakes, freeze dried chives, fresh ground black pepper and Malden Sea Salt. Using the freeze dried herbs means longer shelf life and improves the flavor profile.