"brie" news and stories

Prosciutto, brie and fig preserves crepe. Photo: Sarah LeTrent

Few of us want to make a complicated lasagna for solo dining -- by day six, you'll never want to see lasagna again! In this series, AOL Food staffer Sarah LeTrent taste-tests simple recipes suitable for a "table for one."

As the last days of August draw near and summertime dwindles away, it's hard not to become a touch depressed. For many, this time of year means the end of vacation season and the renewal of daily routine of alarm clocks and venti, non-fat, extra hot lattes. But summer vacation doesn't need to be over -- not yet.

Crêpes, basically really thin French pancakes, are a delicious escape to France from the daily grind. That's the beauty of food: One bite can instantly transport you to a different time or place.

Brie de Melun. Photo: Chez Loulou, Flickr

This summer Slashfood blogger Max Shrem is apprenticing at renowned Paris cheese shop Fromagerie Trotté. In 'Le Cheese Course,' Max will share his impressions and opinions of French cheese à la francaise!

For many Americans, French cheese is synonymous with Brie. In the United States, wheels of it can be found at both high-end grocery stores and large supermarkets. However, neither place sells the two primary types of Brie sold at Parisian cheese shops -- Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, which are much more decadent renditions of the drippy cow's milk cheese.

Stateside, raw-milk cheeses must be aged for at least 60 days before being sold. By the 60th day, both of the two Bries mentioned above are too ripe and in no state to be exported across the Atlantic to be sold. For this reason, much of the Brie found at American cheese shops is pasteurized, industrial, and, quite frankly, a poor representative of this French cheese celebrity that is Brie.

So, if you're in France, what kind of Brie should you look for and what's the difference between the two types?

I am not exactly sure why the "experimenters" were inspired to use a Pokemon character creator intended for use with Play-Doh to make appetizers, but the important point is that they did it, and now we have very useful, well illustrated information about how to make Pikachu appetizers.

Instead of using Play Doh, they sent various cheese through the toy's extruder, which molds it into the shape of Pokemon. From their experiment, they determined that thinner, softer cheeses like Brie work as the best medium. However, very soft, sticky cheeses end up sticking to the mold and become deformed upon extraction.

As an addendum to the original experiment, instant mashed potatoes were used and the subsequent forms were deep fried, successfully creating Pikachu-shaped tater tots.

Nika's Culinaria is a gorgeous blog dedicated to culinary photography. She experiments with zoom, light, focus and, of course, delectable goodies. Since there are so many sweets around this time of year, the savory but oh-so-sweet looking Basil, Lime, Brie and Puff Pastry appetizers really caught my eye. I love the layering, the coloring and the way she managed to capture the flakiness of the puff pastry. I'm not biased in any way because I own the same plate that she used to stage the photo. No recipe is needed to recreate these simple, savory snacks, but I can still only imagine the delicious blend of the flavors until I have an opportunity to try these out at my next party.

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