Brie cheese looks just right. Brie cheese: properties

He was loved even in the Middle Ages, his for a long time served only on the table of the king, until the Great French Revolution changed everything. We are talking about Brie (Brie): a cheese with a long history. There are no indifferent to it: someone is scared away by the aroma of ammonia and the appearance of white mold, and someone admires the delicate creamy core.

Brie cheese - what is it

Born near Paris, named after the place of manufacture, known since the 8th century, it is the king among cheeses and is valued no less than Italian Parmesan, although they can hardly be compared. Bree is soft cheese with white mold, for the manufacture of which cows' milk is used that has not undergone pasteurization. In appearance, the “head” resembles a pie or cake 5 cm high, and the diameter ranges from 30 to 60 cm. Right product has a crust with a velvety-looking mold white color, occasionally with reddish blotches, and always a light gray tint.

A few key features:

• In France, only 2 varieties pass certification of authenticity control: de Meux and de Melin.
• If this variety is made in America or Australia, milk must be pasteurized in accordance with the standards of these countries.
• The taste depends on age: the younger the cheese, the less pungent it is. You can determine the duration of ripening by the thickness of the cake: the thinnest is inherent in the old and spicy Brie.
• You should not buy this cheese if you do not plan to use it in the next 14 days.
• The smell of ammonia is very pungent and intrusive this product should not.
• You can eat a crust - it is also useful element dangerous only in high concentrations of penicillin.

Brie and Camembert - what is the difference

Those who are new to French soft cheeses do not see a clear difference between their varieties. Particularly actively people are wondering what is the difference between Brie and Camembert. In the photo, they are very similar: the same circle shape, the same white mold on a hard crust, formed by the bacterium of the fungus Penicillinum camamberti. However:

• Camembert is always thinner (3.1 cm) and lighter (0.34 kg), and is much smaller in size - only 11.3 cm in diameter.
• The duration of Camembert ripening is from 3 weeks, and Brie should ripen 28 days or more.
• The main taste difference is fat content: in Camembert it is higher - 40% versus 25%.
• Brie is sold in triangles, but Camembert is not cut and packed in a wooden box.
• Camembert smells sharper, devoid of nutty notes, and the core is creamy yellow.

What do they eat with

Belonging to the number of classic varieties that are used to create cheese plate mixed type, Brie is suitable for the role of an appetizer for wine or desserts, laid out on a board in thin slices. However, it can also be used as a component of hot dishes (mainly the first and sauces due to its fusibility), or an additive in coffee. Serving temperature - room temperature.

Regarding what Brie cheese is eaten with, there are several options:

• with fruits (pears, grapes, figs, apples) and honey as a dessert;
• with white wine (preferably from Chardonnay grapes);
• With baked potatoes.

calories

This product has a percentage of fat and the energy value fluctuate depending on age, which is characteristic of almost every elite cheese. Brie can be light or normal in terms of fat content, which is mostly 25%, but by law it can be higher - 45, 50 and 65%. The higher this indicator, the more tender the core will be. If we consider the calorie content of Brie, then it will be only 291 kcal for a 25% variety, and the protein will contain 21 grams.

Benefit and harm

Relatively low calorie and fat content a large number of minerals, vitamins, protein, no carbohydrates and very low content lactose makes brie good option relatively dietary product. How are the benefits and harms of Brie cheese manifested? Antibiotics produced by the penicillin fungus are dangerous for people with intolerance to this element, pregnant women and people suffering from dysbacteriosis. The rest of the use of this cheese should be reduced to 50 g per day.

However positive properties he has more:

• white mold helps bowel function.
• The active use of this cheese is a natural prevention of caries.
• In terms of the proportion of phosphorus and zinc necessary for bone tissue, this variety surpasses the rest.
• With lactose intolerance, Brie is not contraindicated.

Brie at home

If you can’t buy the desired product, you can try to master its manufacture. The technology is much easier than when working with hard varieties, although the search required components however, it may cause some difficulties. Brie at home can be prepared in 2 months (maturing period), after which the product must be consumed in about the same period of time.

Ingredients:

• unpasteurized cow's milk - 6 l;
• rennet extract- 1/3 tsp;
• salt - 1.5 tbsp. l.;
• citric acid - 1/2 tsp;
• cold water - 200 ml;
• white mold powder - 1/8 tsp

Cooking method:

1. Heat the milk in a water bath to 31 degrees.
2. Sprinkle mold powder on top. After folding (6-7 minutes of waiting), mix.
3. Pour diluted citric acid and the same rennet (according to the manufacturer's instructions). Mix, cover.
4. After 1.5 hours, cut with a sharp knife into pieces with sides of 2.5 centimeters.
5. Warm up to 45 degrees in the same water bath (minimum power), wait for subsidence curd mass. Drain the serum through cheesecloth.
6. Let the cheese rest round shape lined with cloth, 3 tsp.
7. Move to transparent white (!) Plastic container placed on a stand so that the separating whey can drain. The next 4 days will need to periodically turn the cheese.
8. On the 5th day, sprinkle with salt, let it ripen in the dark and cold for 14 days until mold appears.
9. Turn over, wait another 2 weeks: the mold should completely cover the cheese.

Brie Recipes

All varieties of this product are in demand among chefs when creating main dishes, sauces, appetizers, and desserts. It can even be fried and served with a sour berry dressing. Recipes with Brie cheese are present in the kitchen of almost every European country. If you are just getting acquainted with this product and have not fully appreciated the features of smell and taste, start culinary experiments with salads.

salad

As previously specified, this product is excellent friends with fruits and nuts, so cooks are actively used for salads, which will give a delicate creamy note. Their composition can be almost anything, but you should not add animal protein there - it is better to choose seafood. If you are looking for festive option, try a simple salad with Brie cheese, avocado, grapefruit and fried kernels pine nuts.

Ingredients:

• leaf lettuce - 110 g;
• grapefruit - 170 g;
• avocado - 200 g;
• Brie - 100 g;
• pine nuts (kernels) - 70 g;
• salt.

Cooking method:

1. Deprive the films of the grapefruit slices, cut in small pieces.
2. Remove the pit from the avocado, remove the skin, cut the flesh in the same way.
3. Leaf salad wash, pat dry with paper towels. Break big.
4. Fry the nuts (do not pour oil) until golden brown.
5. Combine these components, salt, mix, lay out a slide. Spread the cheese evenly on top, cut into squares.

pie

Desserts with this elite product are admired by everyone who tries at least small piece. Open french pie from Brie to sand base ideal for a holiday or even to add variety to regular breakfast. Crispy bottom layer, soft center, sweetness of pears and creamy taste of cheese - the recipe for a magical treat with a minimum of effort will become your favorite. If desired, Brie can be replaced with Camembert here.

Ingredients:

• butter - 125 g;
• flour - 250 g;
• sugar - 70 g;
• eggs - 2 pcs.;
• pears - 450 g;
• Brie - 120 g;
• sour cream - 70 g;
• lemon juice - 20 ml;
• vanilla sugar - 1 tsp

Cooking method:

1. Make it simple shortbread dough rubbing cold butter crumbs with sugar, flour and egg yolks. Refrigerate before stretching into a round shape. The height of the sides should be about 4 cm.
2. Bake at 200 degrees for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the peel from the pears, cut them into thin slices, spread them inside the base of the pie. sprinkle lemon juice.
4. Spread cheese on top, cut into wide slices, pour over a mixture of sour cream with whipped proteins and vanilla sugar.
5. Continue baking at the same temperature until the pie filling is browned.

Price

Food sanctions have taken a serious toll on food choices and prices, so finding Bree High Quality(especially French) and it became difficult not to give half of the salary for it. The price of Brie cheese for a piece of 100 g starts from 200 rubles. and is conditioned by how mature it is, by whom and where it was produced. Approximate price range:

• The Russian brand VitaLat offers 0.15 kg of Brie 60% for 280 rubles.
• The same Russian Alti asks for 250 rubles. already for 0.125 kg. Cheese is also 60%.
• Cheese with a fat content of 60% of the President brand will cost 209 rubles. for 100 g.
• The Swiss version with a fat content of 50% costs 330 rubles. for 100 g or 876 rubles. for 230 g (small cake, not a piece).
• French-Swiss-made cheese with a fat content of 55% costs 340 rubles. for 100 g.

Video

Brie is a cheese that came to us from the banks of the Seine and Marne, a department in France formerly known as Brie. It is pale in color, usually has an edible white rind, and light gray flesh underneath. More mature brie has a stronger flavor and a crumbly crust. Here are some tips for serving this delicious, savory cheese.

Steps

Eating Brie (The Right Way)

If you're at a party, eat brie slices. It will be quite embarrassing if you try to peel it off - eat with it. Should you take a sandwich, choose meat, and put brie on bread? Definitely not. If you don't feel like eating the rind, just cut at an angle to get the least rind and the most cheese.

• Are you saying you've tried eating the crust before and it was disgusting? Oh, chances are you just got a bad brie (yes, it does happen). good crust should crumble a little and taste a little bitter, but it should not be repulsive with its stickiness. If you haven't tried the crust, go ahead and do it, it's completely edible.
• By slice, we mean a small, tiny piece of the pie. Not a slice of bacon.

1. Eat it on its own, with fruit, nuts, or bread. Brie is sooo delicious. If you can resist the temptation to stuff an entire head of brie into your mouth, it tastes even better when combined with the power of others. delicious foods. Try it with:

   • apples or pears
   • Fig jam, compote sour cherries or honey
   • french bread
   • Almonds or candied walnuts
   • white crackers
     • Of course, you can eat the way you like! We'll talk about the recipes in the third part - brie can be eaten not only as a snack.

2. Pair with a drink. Brie pairs well with champagne, as well as certain wines and beers. More acidic wines will go better with this cheese, while a stronger beer (like a good stout) will complete the flavor.

   • Soft cheeses, like brie, are best combined with dry wines Riesling, Marsanne, Viognier. Lighter red wines (like Pinot Noir) also work well, thanks to their soft and rich taste, which well emphasizes the softness, juiciness of brie.
   • Don't want to drink alcohol? No problem. Apple cider or similar juice will work fine for you. The lighter and fresher the better.

3. Know when brie is bad. Brie only lasts a couple of weeks. Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking at a cheese circle:

   Brie serving

   Using Brie as an Ingredient

   1. Bake brie. There are many options that go with baked brie. Try baking cranberry brie for a sweet treat autumn dish. Raw grace? Oh yeah. Good luck, wait until the dish is ready!

      Make a brie with a crust. This is when you take a small circle of brie and cover it with puff pastry, brush it with egg and bake until the dough is ready. There are a million options - often with raspberry or other jam on top, or nuts inside. It's simple and yet delicious.

      Make Crab Stuffed Salmon! What could be better than baked salmon stuffed with soft, creamy brie, stuffed with peppers, onions and crunchy pine nuts? Brie doesn't have to come with sweet jams or fruit - it can be spicy too!

      You might want to make pesto or brie cheese sauce. Perfect for casual gatherings with friends or for a snack alone! It will liven up any standard meeting with friends. To whom cheese balls? Just don't forget to stock up on dry pretzels and crackers!

      Put it on a sandwich. Maybe some bacon, avocado, black forest ham, mustard, marinara sauce, basil, cranberries, mushrooms - brie goes well with almost everything. Put it on a sandwich, it's sure to be delicious. Hey, you can make a melted cheese sandwich with brie!

      Come up with your own recipe. Now that you know the magic of brie, what would you do with it? Threw on a cutlet? Improved french fries? Would you put it in a salad? Use up the whole circle before it starts to spoil!

   • The fat content is overpriced by most consumers. On the label, the percentage is based on the dry product. Since brie is about 40% water, you have to multiply the fat content by 0.6 to get a more realistic number.
   • Eat the crust along with the soft contents. Learn to appreciate the combination.
   • Another way to serve brie is to wrap it in foil and bake it in the oven until warm and softened in the middle. This will make the cheese more suitable for spreading on bread or crackers, and it will be a good contrast to the cold inside fruit.
   • Younger brie is softer on the inside in texture. More mature brie crumbles a bit and has a stronger aroma and flavor.
   • When you are about to cut yourself a piece of cheese, try not to change the overall shape and appearance the rest. It is best to cut the slice from the edge towards the center. In any case, you should not leave only the crust to others.
   • While you can eat cheese without bread or crackers, it's best to eat with bread if the host offers it. Just put brie on the bread.
   • Preheating cheese is not very French. The product is good as is.

   Warnings

   • Because of the danger (albeit very small) of listeriosis, don't eat cheese made from unpasteurized milk when you're pregnant. Although cheese is supposed to be tastier, this is rarely done. Some people buy this brie from farmers who make their own cheese.

There are many foodstuffs that not so long ago were completely inaccessible to most people. Now almost every one of us can buy them - in large supermarkets, specialized outlets or, in extreme cases, on the Internet. Just such products are different types cheeses. And the topic of our conversation today will be Brie and Camembert cheeses. We will give reviews of the cheeses of those who have tried them, clarify how to eat them correctly, consider what the benefits and harms of Camembert and Brie can be, clarify how these cheeses differ, and what is their price.

What is the difference between Brie cheese and Camembert cheese??

Both types of cheese are made from cow's milk using basically the same technology. Both soft cow cheese covered with hard moldy skin. During cooking, both Brie and Camembert use cream, but their proportion is different. So, Brie cheese contains sixty percent of milk fat, and Camembert - only forty-five. Among other things, when preparing Camembert, strong lactic acid cultures are introduced five times, due to which finished product has a more pronounced smell and taste. In Brie, lactic acid cultures are added only once, respectively, Brie is soft and tender.

By appearance the heads of Brie and Camembert are also different. So, Brie looks more oval and taller, and Camembert looks flatter. Most often, Camembert is sold in a certain size (the diameter of the circle is eleven centimeters, and the height is three centimeters) and weight - two hundred and fifty grams. If you evaluate the internal contents by eye, then Brie most often turns white inside, and Camembert has a deep yellowish color. For extra-ripe Camembert, liquid “insides” are completely characteristic, which not every person likes, but is considered especially valuable quality.

cheese price

Cheese prices vary from store to store. So, 250 grams of Camembert cheese can be bought for about four hundred and fifty rubles. And the price of Brie weighing 250 grams is about five hundred rubles.

How to eat Camembert correctly?

Since Camembert has a high fat content, when stored in the refrigerator, it becomes frozen like butter. And in his cold state taste qualities and the aroma is not felt at all. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the cheese on the table in advance and keep it at room temperature for about half an hour. While it is firm, you can cut it into segments, like a cake.

Before you start tasting Camembert, set your table with various fresh fruit and nuts. This type of cheese is considered dessert. It is possible to combine it with sour jam, for example, cranberry or currant.

Many lovers use Camembert to make a cheese plate, serving other types of cheese along with it on the board. In addition to such a product, Popular about Health readers can use various young red wines characterized by low tannins. A good choice would also be cider or Calvados.

It is worth noting that initially Camembert with white mold was not a dessert. It was eaten by the most ordinary Norman peasants. Therefore, it is quite possible to cook hot sandwiches with it or add it to the composition of pies. Since such cheese melts easily, you can use it for a kind of fondue by dipping a fresh crispy baguette into the melted mass.

How to eat Brie?

If you want to try Brie cheese with white mold, do not try to peel it, it is worth eating such cheese with a crust. It goes well with all kinds of fruits, nuts and bread. So, true lovers of such a product recommend eating it with apples or pears.

Others prefer Brie paired with fig jam, honey or sweet cherry compote. More like this cheese treat goes well with French bread, almonds or candied walnuts. It can also be eaten with white crackers.

As for drinks, this blue cheese can be paired with champagne, some varieties of wine and quite strong beer. This kind of cheese is ideally complemented by dry wines presented by Riesling or Marsan. It is also quite possible to emphasize the juiciness and amazing taste of this product with Viognier or a lighter red wine such as Pinot Noir.
If alcohol is not in your plans, you can eat Brie with apple cider or similar juice.

Brie cheese is also great for culinary experiments. It is baked as part of sweet pies, combined with delicious fish(salmon), used to make pesto or cheese sauce.

Benefits of Camembert Cheese?

Camembert cheese is able to bring great benefit body, because it is a source of a mass of useful (essential) amino acids. It is believed that such a product will be especially useful for those people who face intense physical or mental stress every day.

Camembert contains a lot of calcium and phosphorus, so it should be eaten with arthritis and arthrosis, various injuries and fractures. It is desirable to include it in your diet at the stage of active growth of the body and during the formation of all skeletal bones.

Periodically eating Camembert helps to avoid problems in activity. nervous system and in the condition of the teeth. A distinctive feature of this cheese is the minimum content of lactose, so it rarely causes allergic reactions- individual intolerance.

Possible harm Camembert

Doctors strongly do not recommend eating Camembert for babies under the age of seven, as well as for women who are carrying a child. Such a recommendation is explained by the high probability of infection with listeriosis, because in the manufacture of such cheese only unpasteurized milk is used.

In addition, due to the high fat content, this product is not advised to eat with hypertension, increased blood pressure and the amount of cholesterol in the blood, as well as overweight. Camembert cheese must be consumed in small quantities so as not to overload the body (no more than fifty grams per day).

Benefits of Brie

Brie cheese can also be very beneficial for the body. Like Camembert, it wonderfully saturates our body with calcium and phosphorus, which strengthen bone tissue and teeth. In addition, such a product is a source of provitamin A, which is necessary for the full functioning of vision and for the synthesis of collagen, which is important for maintaining the beauty of the skin. Vitamins B in the composition of Brie cheese improve the functioning of the heart and nervous system, help eliminate the feeling of excessive fatigue and cope with insomnia.

Like Camembert, Brie is virtually lactose-free, making it non-allergenic.
Brie cheese is also a source of mass essential amino acids and bacteria that affect the functioning of the digestive tract. There is evidence that the benefits of cheese when eaten and that it reduces the likelihood of tooth decay and sunburn.

Possible harm to Brie cheese

It is better not to give such a product to small children, pregnant and lactating women. It is better not to get involved in them with ailments of the heart and blood vessels, as well as with obesity. Even completely healthy people it is better not to eat more than fifty grams of such cheese per day.
Of course, it is worth considering the possibility of an allergic intolerance to Brie cheese.

By right, brie is included in the list of honorary cheeses. it french cheese with a soft structure, made on the basis of cow's milk without pasteurization. In terms of volume, cheese circles are very small, only 40-60 cm in diameter. It is right to eat brie cheese both young, when it still has a creamy taste, soft structure, and mature, when the product becomes dense. As for taste, mature brie has spicy pleasant notes, sharpness. Raw crust it turns out white, and the surface covered with mold is velvety. Beneath them lies a mass with a creamy consistency. The mass is quite fluid, it is very difficult to cut it with a knife. To eat brie cheese correctly, you need only high-quality, with a delicate, bright flavor of nuts. It is easy to recognize a fake. Unscrupulous producers give out other delicacies. The product has an unsurpassed delicate taste.

Brie cheese: composition, calories

In terms of composition, this milk product rich enough. 100 grams contains:

• water 50 g;
• protein 21 g;
• fat 28 g;
• carbohydrates 0.5 g;
• ash 3 g.

It also contains B vitamins, pyridoxine, folic acid, cyanocobalamin, pantothenic acid, choline, vitamins E, K, A, D. Brie is saturated with many macronutrients: phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, calcium, potassium. The trace elements present in the composition include: zinc, selenium, copper and iron, manganese. The calorie content of 100 g of the product is 334 kcal.

It is worth noting that lactose is practically absent in cheese, but it retains all the important properties of milk. Therefore, it is allowed to eat brie cheese for those who suffer from lactose intolerance.

How to Eat Brie Cheese for Health Benefits?

The product will bring maximum useful effect if you eat it in small portions and not often. The product also contains all the useful amino acids, bacteria that improve the functioning of the digestive tract, synthesize vitamins from group B. The special composition of the mold that covers the cheese perfectly protects the skin from ultraviolet radiation. The skin accumulates a certain amount of substances that increase the production of melanin, which reduces the risk of sunburn. In addition, eating cheese prevents the development of caries.

Contraindications

For the production of this type of dairy product, penicillin fungi are used. They, in turn, secrete antibiotics that prevent harmful bacteria from multiplying. At one time they learned to extract penicillin from them - an effective remedy.

If brie cheese is eaten correctly - little by little and infrequently, then there will be no health risk. Eating a delicacy quite often can significantly affect intestinal microflora, provoke the development of dysbacteriosis. This risk increases in the presence of intestinal infections.

With what and how to eat brie cheese?

This product is laid out on a classic plate. It is great for making sauces, delicious soups. The dairy product melts well, gives the dish desired consistency, taste of cream. The sliced ​​product goes well with baked potatoes. It is fried, adding to other products. In this form, served with cranberry or lingonberry sauce. There is a casserole option puff pastry. It goes well with fruits: pineapple, apple, melon,. It can be enjoyed with a white baguette, sweet walnuts, crackers, apple or cherry cider.

Brie is a French soft cheese made from cow's milk. In shape, it is a flat circle with a diameter of 30-60 cm and a height of 3-5 cm. Higher heads are not very good quality, as a rule, they are unripe inside and overripe at the edges. The surface of real brie is covered with a white velvety mold. Sometimes on the crust you can see streaks of red or brown. The crust is edible, but almost tasteless. The pulp of the cheese is a fluid mass of pale yellow, almost straw color. Bree has the most tender creamy taste with an elusive mushroom or nutty aroma that fully develops in adulthood when it acquires additional spicy notes. By the way, the sharpness of cheese can be judged by the thickness of the heads - the thinner they are, the sharper the taste.

Warranty marking

In 1980, Brie was given its native controlled name, A.O.S. Only two varieties of brie are officially honored to be a legally protected product - Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, the cheeses got their name from the cities in which they are produced. In general, there are a large number of variations on the theme of brie, with a variety of additives (spices, herbs, nuts, mushrooms, etc.), from different types milk, not just cow's. Brie production technology has been mastered not only in France, but also in some other countries, including the USA, but all these cheeses are only copies, and, of course, only the original remains the best.

Culinary use and storage

Brie is an excellent table cheese that will ennoble any dish, even sandwiches spread with this cheese will become a royal delicacy. The rich fruity aroma of brie cheese is ideal for fondue and sauces. Cheese goes well with fruits (green apples, pears, melon), berries and nuts (grapes, strawberries, walnuts), vegetables and meat. Brie should be served room temperature by keeping it warm for a while, then the cheese will fully release its aroma. The pulp of the cheese is eaten together with the crust, or separately, cutting it off from chilled cheese or taking it out with a spoon from cheese at room temperature. Be careful not to buy overripe cheese heads: they are easy to recognize if you lightly press on the surface - overripe cheese will immediately push through. In addition, overripe brie has a brown sticky crust and smells of ammonia.

Brie cheese has a rather short shelf life if you have already cut off a piece from whole head. In this form, it does not lend itself long-term storage, so it should be eaten within a few days. Brie ceases to ripen immediately after even a small part of it is cut off. But you can store it in whole up to six months in the refrigerator at a temperature of + 2-4C. It will not spoil, as at this time the aging process will still be going on in it. If necessary, Brie can be replaced with Camembert, Reblochon.

Cheese and wine

Brie goes well with both white and red wines, such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Chateau Clarcke. He can be kept company sparkling wine like champagne.

Cheese production

Brie can be made from whole or semi-skimmed cow's milk, to which rennet is added and heated to a maximum temperature of 37C. Then the cheese is laid out in marble molds using a special perforated ladle, in French it is called “brie scoop” (pelle à brie). The cheese is left for 18 hours, after which it is removed from the molds, salted and the mold fungus Penicillium candidum is introduced. It is thanks to this fungus that the cheese acquires a special texture: the bacteria first “work” to create a light crust, and then deepen towards the center of the cheese, at the same time softening its structure. Cheese ripens in cellars from 4 weeks to 2 months. For a 35 cm circle of brie, about 20 liters of milk are needed.

Origin story

Brie originates from the region of the same name near Paris. The first mention of brie cheese is captured in the exclamation of delight of Charlemagne, who in 774 exclaimed: “I have just tasted one of the most fine dining". In addition, there is a legend that the Frankish emperor Charlemagne, having tasted brie in one of the monasteries of the Brie region, fell in love with the taste of this cheese forever. And most likely, this is true, because history does not know the names of those who would not be subdued by its taste and aroma. Passion for brie played a fatal role in fate french king Louis XVI - fleeing the revolutionaries, the king lingered in the town of Waren near the town of Meaux, where they made the best brie, for a tasting and was captured. It is not for nothing that Brie is called the “cheese of kings”, and this was exactly the case until the French Revolution. Brie was considered one of the best and most expensive gifts, which on special occasions was given to those close to the kings. Among the great lovers of this cheese are King Philip Augustus, Henry IV and Queen Margot. In the 19th century, brie was considered the best cheese in the world, and all thanks to the French diplomat Charles Maurice Talleyrand, who introduced the famous cheese to Europe. After the French Revolution, brie, as they say, "went to the people", which was proclaimed as the "king of cheeses".