#21 - Mimolette

This was an "extra-old" example made by Isigny St Mer, and we bought it from a Hyper-U supermarket.  I had been wanting to try this for some time, mostly because of the interesting rind.  In fact, the characteristic rough, pitted rind is caused by cheese mites.  The cheese is also coloured orange using annatto (a natural pigment).  

Mimolette was supposed to be originally based on Dutch Edam cheese, which is apparent from its shape and eye holes, but it seems to have developed it's own distinct characteristics as well.  Both have a reduced fat content compared to hard cheese favourites like Cheddar.  

Our example was typically round, with a very bumpy, crusty looking rind.  The "bubbles" in the rind will have grown in size due to the cheese mites as the cheese aged - so a younger cheese would have a smoother rind.  The cheese mites appear to have been removed and the rind cleaned well before the cheese was packaged for distribution.  The paste was a deep orange, with quite a firm texture.  We found it to be be very salty (presumably due to the cheese drying as it aged) and it had savoury, marmite and slightly fruity flavours.

Mimolette