Camembert in Normandy

Normandy boasts many different landscapes and local cuisine accompanies each one. We’re off to find out about traditional cheese-making at the Durand cheese dairy, and try out their Camembert of course!

artisanal ladle-served Camembert

We strive to keep to the paths of righteousness, but temptation is all around in Normandy, so we have to give in to Camembert! The Durand cheese dairy is the last of its kind to makes artisanal Camembert in the old way, poured into moulds with ladles.

A labour of love

In Normandy, cuisine is taken very seriously. François and Nadia Durand both show clear passion for their craft and know how to prepare a good Normandy cheese! Thanks to a video, we are able to gain an insight into how camembert is produced, through the stages of milk production, moulding and packaging. It’s clearly a labour of love to produce a really good cheese!

The Durand Cheese dairy

After watching the video, we are invited into the preparation workshop behind the shop to see François at work moulding the cheese. To help you understand where the milk comes from, all you have to do is pop into the stables and meet the cows! Every morning, the Durand family deploy from cow to camembert their daily quota of milk! Any udder questions?

Now we’re ready for some serious tasting! We have been sharply reminded that there is an important connection between cheese and apples, so the best drink to accompany camembert has always been cider, not red wine!

Camembert Durand, made from raw milk, is sold in the Durand farm shop for €3.80. The shop also sells other artisanal products by local producers, including Livarot and Pont-l’Evêque cheese and (of course) Normandy cider!