Livarot

Livarot Cheese (Homemade AOC-Style)

Livarot is a Normandy cow's-milk cheese traditionally washed with brine and wrapped in raffia or, historically, bands of dried rushes (laîche). Reproducing it at home is a months-long project, but the soft, pungent, beefy-rind style is achievable in a temperate kitchen with patient aging.

Prep

180 min

Cook

60 min

Total

240 min

Serves

Makes 4 small cheeses (about 200 g each)

Difficulty

Hard

Recipe ingredients

• •8 L (2 gallons) whole raw cow's milk, thermized at home if raw milk is unavailable; do not use ultra-high-pasteurized
• •0.5 tsp mesophilic starter culture (MM100 or equivalent), or null
• •2 ml (0.4 tsp) calcium chloride solution (30%), only if using pasteurized or thermized milk
• •1.2 ml (0.25 tsp) liquid rennet (single strength), or null
• •18 g (0.6 oz) non-iodized sea salt, for brine
• •1 L (1 quart) cool water, for brine
• •2 g (0.07 oz) Brevibacterium linens (or washed-rind culture blend), dissolved in 10 ml non-chlorinated water; or null
• •4 strips food-grade raffia or parchment strips, home-substitution: cut parchment into 2 cm bands and tie around the wheels to mimic the traditional 3 to 5 laîche bands

Steps

1. 1 Heat the milk to 32 °C (90 °F) in a stainless-steel pot. Stir in calcium chloride if using, then sprinkle the mesophilic starter over the surface and let it rehydrate for 2 minutes before stirring in. Ripen 45 minutes, keeping the temperature steady at 32 °C.
2. 2 Dilute the rennet in 50 ml cool non-chlorinated water and stir gently into the milk with an up-and-down motion for 1 minute. Let the milk set, undisturbed, for 45 to 60 minutes until a clean break is achieved.
3. 3 Cut the curd into 1 to 1.5 cm cubes using a long knife, then let the curds rest 5 minutes. Slowly raise the temperature to 38 °C (100 °F) over 30 minutes while stirring very gently; the curds will shrink and expel whey.
4. 4 Line a colander with cheesecloth and ladle the curds in. Let them drain 10 minutes, then gently transfer to cylindrical moulds (about 7 cm tall, 7 cm wide). Press at 1 kg for 6 hours, flipping and re-pressing every 2 hours.
5. 5 Unmould the wheels and dry them at 18 to 20 °C on a wooden board with good airflow for 24 to 48 hours, until the surface is dry to the touch and no whey beads when pressed.
6. 6 Prepare a saturated salt brine: dissolve 18 g salt in 1 L water, cool to 12 °C (54 °F). Submerge each wheel for 16 hours total (about 4 hours per side if air-space is limited). Pat dry.
7. 7 Dry-salt any bare spots, then transfer the cheeses to a ripening cave or wine fridge set to 13 to 15 °C (55 to 59 °F) and 90 to 95 % relative humidity. If you do not have a cave, place each wheel in a sealed plastic container with a damp paper towel and a small dish of water, and vent daily.
8. 8 From day 3 onward, wash the surface twice per week with a mild brine solution (1 tsp salt in 100 ml water). Once surface mould appears (about day 7 to 10), dissolve B. linens in 10 ml water and gently dab it onto the rinds, then resume washing with brine 3 times per week.
9. 9 Tie the raffia or parchment strips around each wheel when the rind begins to firm but is still pliable, around day 5 to 8. Re-tighten as the cheese softens and loses moisture.
10. 10 Age the cheeses a minimum of 6 weeks for a mild Livarot, 10 to 12 weeks for a classic pungent wheel. Discard any wheels showing pink or black slime (unwanted spoilage); a uniform orange-red smear rind is the goal.
11. 11 Safety note on raw milk: this recipe uses raw cow's milk to stay faithful to traditional Livarot. Raw-milk cheese aged under 60 days is not recommended for pregnant women, young children, the elderly, or anyone with compromised immunity. To reduce risk, thermize the milk to 63 °C for 30 minutes (or 72 °C for 15 seconds) before cooling to 32 °C and proceeding; this is a home-kitchen substitution for true raw milk.
12. 12 Doneness cue: the cheese is ready when the interior is ivory to pale yellow, semi-soft, and yields a clean cut with a knife, and the rind shows a uniform orange-red smear with a strong but not ammoniacal aroma. If the centre remains chalky or acidic, age another 2 to 3 weeks.
13. 13 Serving: bring to room temperature 1 hour before eating; pair with Norman cider, Calvados, or a rustic sourdough baguette.