As mozza outsells Camembert in France, a cheesemonger defends the 'stinky' local classic

Story Transcript

French cheesemonger Clément Brossault always tries to introduce his young customers to the creamy, pungent flavour of traditional Camembert cheese, but he admits it may be too intense for most modern palates. 

Italian mozzarella outsold Camembert in France for the first time ever last month, reports French news outlet Le Figaro.

It might be an odd comparison, as mozza is usually used for cooking foods like pizza and pasta, while Camembert is most often served on its own, perhaps with a glass of wine.  

Still, the declining popularity of the traditional French cheese has local foodies, chefs and cheese sellers worried about the future of one of the country's most iconic products.

Brossault, owner of La Fromagerie Goncourt in Paris, remains a staunch advocate of Camembert — as long as it's authentic, of course. Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens host Carol Off.

What makes Camembert so irresistible in your view? 

You have a texture … that's creamy. [It] stinks, so it's not something you can forget.... You can't eat it, for instance, for a first meeting with a woman, because that's too much. 

Whoa, stop right there. Explain yourself there, please. 

It's really stinky. For me, it's one of the most stinky ones. 

People don't know it because nowadays you have a lot of industrialized Camembert, but it's quite strong, and that's why I love it. The real one, I mean. The one called Camembert de Normandie. So you have to be really focused when you buy it that that's the name. It's made with a local cow in a really traditional way, only by people, and not by machines. So that makes all the difference and that gives this incredible taste. 

OK, now how does that compare with mozzarella cheese? 

This is the night and the day. This is the white and black. 

Mozzarella is fresh and easy.... You want to eat it in the summer… On your pizza, you know, it's great because it's the perfect texture when you cook it.

And it's something you could serve on your first date, I presume?

Yeah, well, good point for the Italians. 

But as you point out, I mean, mozzarella and Camembert, this is like apples and oranges, isn't it? I mean, these are two completely different things. And so why is it causing such an uproar in France that mozzarella is selling better than Camembert at this point? 

We have pride. So this is one of our symbols, like the Eiffel Tower, like the baguettes. So I guess when this study was broadcast, that rings a bell for people that we [have] changed our habits too. 

And let's defend Camembert, too, or show it to the young people, to tell them how good it is. 

It's not [an] easy one, but it's like when you read a book. You can read, like, an easy one, or you can read Victor Hugo that needs some effort. 

That's what we tried to do in my little shop in the centre of Paris, La Fromagerie Goncourt. When I see young people, I mean a teenager or even someone in their 20s, I try to show them all the traditional French cheeses, and even the stronger [ones]. Sometimes you just have to try to like it. 

All right. What you're describing, though, is the kind of Camembert that I could purchase in your Fromagerie Goncourt. The Camembert we get here in Canada doesn't sound like that. In the supermarkets, you get most of it, and it's a very different thing. It's creamy, but it's dry. You're not describing the Camembert that I think most people are eating these days. 

As I said, you have the industrialized one, and you have the right one. 

I think in France, one Camembert out of 10 is the real one. So I don't know about Canada. I've never been there. But I guess in the supermarket ... it's hard to find. 

Do you think that that's part of the problem, maybe, why people are giving up on Camembert? 

I'm not sure, to be honest, that the real traditional Camembert is made for our world, except for a few people [who are] ready for big taste. 

For instance, if you buy Camembert ... if you don't eat [within] a week, it will become red. It will become, sometimes, a bit black.

I'm not sure people can be ready for that ... instead of a mozzarella that doesn't smell in a fridge. 

So I don't know. Maybe this is something too traditional to attract a lot of people. 

You're not worried that Camembert sales are down, and mozzarella sales are up, then? 

What is worrying me is that we have to defend the real cheese.... That's my worry more than whether mozzarella sells more than Camembert.

What I want to defend is a good mozzarella or a good Camembert, and made in the traditional way. 

Because people nowadays, they buy cheese and believe that's something traditional. But no, you have a look on the [label] or ask your cheesemonger. What do you have behind that? Do you have any additives, or is it only natural? 

That's what makes me sometimes sleep not too well. 

Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Kate Cornick. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.