Pont-l'Évêque et Livarot

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Pont-l’Évêque and Livarot are Normandy’s other great AOC cheeses — older than Camembert, more complex, and less known outside France, each representing a distinct tradition of washed-rind cheese-making in the Pays d’Auge. Pont-l’Évêque, documented since the 13th century, is a square, soft-washed rind cheese made from cow’s milk. Its production follows the lactic-rennet mixed coagulation: milk is set with cultures and rennet for 30-45 minutes, the curd cut into 2cm cubes, gently stirred, then hand-ladled into square molds (10.5cm). After draining and salting, affinage takes minimum 14 days, during which the cheese is washed periodically with a light brine that encourages Brevibacterium linens — the orange-pigmented bacteria that give washed-rind cheeses their characteristic aroma. The perfect Pont-l’Évêque has a thin, slightly sticky, golden-orange rind and a bulging, supple paste that tastes of hazelnut, butter, and a gentle farmyard tang. Livarot is more assertive: a round cheese wrapped with 3 or 5 bands of sedge (laiche) or paper that prevent it from collapsing during its longer affinage (minimum 21 days). These bands earned it the nickname ‘le colonel’ (the five bands resemble a colonel’s stripes). The rind is washed more aggressively with brine tinted with annatto, developing a deeper orange-red color and a pungent, meaty aroma. The paste of a ripe Livarot is almost liquid, intensely savory, with notes of cellar, cured meat, and hay. Livarot was historically the poor man’s cheese of the Pays d’Auge — made from partially skimmed milk (the cream went to butter), it was cheaper than Camembert but arguably more flavorful. Both cheeses demand room temperature service and pair brilliantly with cider, Calvados, or a robust Norman farm bread.

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