Camembert.... I can't find the date stamp, how do I know how ripe it is?!
Answers: My sister just returned from Normandy. I asked her to bring me something typically French, so she brought some Camembert ( d' Isigny). I know the cheese will still be "unripe" in the centre and the trick is to catch it at 4-5 weeks when the cheese turns soft and aromatic (?). But there's no date stamp to give me a clue.... should the condition/colour of the rind (crust) give me a clue???
I'll tell you something. Camembert, Brie, etc. never have a date stamp on them. It's up to the consumer to determine when it's ripe or ripe enough for their individual taste. Some people like them oozing, others just before that.
For me, when the crust begins to show small brownish spots, it indicates a starting ripeness. I then leave it out of the fridge and leave it to stand at room temperature for about 2 hours before getting it on the crackers, of course with a nice red wine and without TV.
with the camembert you know just how ripe it is by doing the F-camembert-ripeness-test you put some of the camembert into a chamber with some lettuce and a mouse and then you change the mouse every day for five days and wiegh them before and after going into the chamber and if the lettuce turns brown before the mice gain weight then they will have boy mice, and if not, then they will have girl mice.