How did you start ?

My grandparents took over the farm in 1949. It represented about forty hectares and had two cows. Today, it has about 240 hectares and a hundred cows of the Prim’holstein breed. I came to the farm in 1985 and, at the time, we did mixed farming (wheat, maize, beetroot, proteinaceous peas) and animal husbandry. In 1993, we started up a cheese-making activity to develop the dairy farming. This helped us to develop our farm in terms of quotas and to increase the value added of the end-product. We invested in a cheese-making facility and hired a cheese-making technician.

What do you produce ?

We produce two types of cheese, AOC (AOP) certified dairy Brie de Melun by reason of about 30 tons a year, and dairy Brillat-savarin representing about 20 tons a year. Brie de Melun is the only large-sized soft cheese that uses a lactic technology (long maturing and curdling for at least eighteen hours), where as the others use a “rennet-based” technology. You need 13.5 litres of raw cow’s milk to make one Brie de Melun and before the maturing stage, it undergoes a partial skimming. We use unheated milk, to which we add only a little rennet to start the curdling. The next day it is ladled into moulds by hand and it drains spontaneously. It measures 27 cm in diameter, it is 3 cm thick and it weighs about 1.5 kg. Seven to eight hours after the moulding, we replace the mould with metal cheese tray so we can turn it over because the cheese has shrunk to half of its volume (the whey has drained off). It is salted on one side and left to rest for twelve hours before being turned over, de-moulded and salted on the heel. It is then placed in a maturing room for three to four weeks and turned every day. To be fully ripe, Brie de Melun (45% fat) must be matured for nine to eleven weeks. It should have a white mould rind with pale red streaks, a delightfully soft, pale yellow centre and it should not run. It goes very well with Gaillac wines. Our dairy Brie de Melun has been certified AOC since 1994.Brie de Melun is one of the prides of our cheese heritage.

Brillat-savarin (600 g) is a very creamy cheese (72% fat), which is made with 2.5 to 3 litres of raw cow’s milk, with cream added (recovered from the Brie de Melun). It measures 13.5 cm in diameter and it is 6 cm thick. It can be served at all stages of maturity and some dairymen mature it for fifteen days. It has a white centre under a white rind, with thin orangey streaks appearing as it ages. The curdling occurs after thirteen or fourteen hours. We started making it at the same time as the Brie de Melun because we re-use the surplus cream from the latter. Our clientele is made up of Rungis operators (75%), distant dairy retailers (10%), local retailers (10%) and farm sales (5%). At first, we became known by attending the various trade shows devoted to cheese. We won a gold medal for the Brillat-savarin and a bronze medal for the Brie de Melun in 1998, followed by several other silver medals for the Brie de Melun. Out of the five producers of Brie de Melun only two are “dairy” and we are one of them.

What is your opinion of the cheese market ?

Although cheese consumption seems to be remaining stable on the whole, cheese counters offering individual portions are unfortunately tending to disappear, and that’s a pity. I believe it is essential to continue having products like ours sold by traditional cheesemongers, because they have nothing to do with self-service.

What do you think of Rungis Market ?

I’ve been supplying Rungis Market since 1993 thanks to Mr Eric Danicourt, the cheese broker, who introduced it to me. It is absolutely necessary and indispensable for us insofar as it gives us access to all markets, particularly as our products are not for mass consumption products. Rungis is known for the quality and breadth of its product lines and we are very satisfied with it.