On to Livarot

Since it took me only five minutes to visit Camembert, I went back to Livarot.  It is a nice small town that gives its name to one of Normandy’s great cheeses, and where I visited the cheese dairy factory.

Since 1910, E. Graindorge Cheese Dairy has been passed down from father to son. The company specializes in the production of the four Norman Protected Designations of Origin or PDO cheeses, Livarot, Pont-l’Eveque, Camembert de Normandie, Neufchatel.

The milk is collected from a hundred producers. Historically, it ensures high quality raw milk, the Norman race and manufacturing in compliance with the rules established by the Protected Designations of Origin.  It was striking how mechanised its production methods are, in the highly traditional area of France.

It is interesting that this one cheese factory produces, from the same milk, all four of Normandy’s great cheeses, even though they ostensibly come from four different villages/towns.  The different flavours of the four cheeses are obtained by differences in the fermentation process.  In other words, cheese production in Normandy is highly industrialised.

I found a lovely little restaurant for lunch (see photo).  But it was disappointing that there was not one dish on the menu, based on Norman cheeses.  The disappearance of traditional French cuisine is a regrettable feature of today’s France.