Le Cendrillon is a soft, triangular log-shaped, surface-ripened pasteurized goat’s milk cheese.
The log is covered in dark ash. Under the ash, the cheese’s skin has a white bloom on it. Inside, just under the surfaces, the cheese is almond-paste coloured. At its core, the cheese is white.
The cheese has a slightly sour taste. When young, the overall taste is mild. As it ages, the taste is fuller, with the rind acquiring a bit of spice to it.
It is made by La Maison Alexis de Portneuf, owned by Saputo Corporation since 1999, in St-Raymond de Portneuf, about 30 miles (50 kilometres) northwest of Quebec City on the north shore of the St. Lawrence.
The cheeses are hand-formed, and put in a ripening room with cheeses that have surface bloom on them, so that the bloom mould might transfer to the Cendrillons.
The triangular prisms weigh 125g (4.4 oz.)
History Notes
Le Cendrillon was named 2009’s best cheese in the world at World Cheese Awards that year.
Sources
Bruemmer, Réné. Cinderella story: Canadian cheese named best in the world. Montreal Gazette. 3 October 2009.
Marchetti, Domenica. Notes from the cheese world: A Canadian goat’s-milk cheese named Cinderella (Le Cendrillon), was named best cheese in the world at the 21st annual World Cheese Awards. Washington Post. 6 October 2009.
Morin, Annie. Ruée sur le Cendrillon, le «meilleur fromage au monde». Quebec: Le Soleil. 6 October 2009.
Riedl, Sue. What does the world’s best cheese taste like? Toronto, Canada: The Globe and Mail. 6 April 2011.