Brie is a creamy French cheese popular for its smooth yet tangy, slightly acid taste and its woodsy smell. It is pale yellow inside with a crust like a soft white velvet. It can legally be made anywhere, by anyone.
Surface-Ripened Cheeses
Camembert Cheese
Camembert is a mild, creamy cheese that is slightly salty. The outside crust may acquire a few splashes of red as it ages. The older the cheese is, the more runny it will be, but when it is too old, it develops an unpleasant ammonia smell.
Limburger Cheese
Limburger cheese has a brown rind and a strong smell, both of which come from the bacteria that grows on the cheese. Inside, the cheese is cream-coloured and mild tasting.
Port du Salut Cheeses
Port du Salut Cheeses are washed-rind cheeses. All are semi-firm, so they can be sliced. The rind on these cheeses is typically whiffy, and is not edible on many of them. They originated with Trappist monks at the Notre Dame du Port-du-Salut Abbey in the Loire, France.
Port Salut Cheese
Port Salut is a semi-soft cheese with an edible orange rind. Inside, the cheese is a pale yellow. The rind has a distinct though not overpoweringly strong aroma.
Smear-Ripened Cheeses
Smear-ripened cheeses are those on whose surfaces certain bacteria are encouraged to grow during ripening in order to influence both the flavour and texture of the cheese inside. These cheeses typically have orangish rinds and a distinct aroma.
Surface-Ripened Cheeses
Surface-ripened cheeses are a large group of cheeses for whom the ripening starts on the surface of the cheese, and works its way inward.