Camembert cheese isn’t as fatty as you think. It least that’s what’s written in Bruno Goffi’s book “Le Camembert: history, fabrication, terroir and recipes” Rustica Editions.
He writes: Even though a Camembert label reads 45% fat, that is refers to the dry part of the cheese. The fat content is calculated by the corresponding number of lipids in a 100 grams of a dry extract, in other words, the remains of the cheese after all the water as been taken out. So, the ‘real’ percentage of fat in a piece of Camembert cheese is more like 21%. Nevertheless, Camembert is still not advised for low-fat diets.
Not only is Camembert not as fat as you thought, but it has a history in France (according to Goffi’s book) of being used to treat cirrhosis of the liver. We’re talking about a hyper-protein meal here of half a Camembert cheese(about 280 grams) with a little sugar added for good measure. Salt, on the other hand, which engenders edemas, is excluded.
Is this why wine and cheese go together like Romeo and Juliet?
If you are thinking (like I did) upon first reading this – yeah, cheese isn’t fattening, cows fly, and French women don’t get fat (to quote that popular diet book by the same title) – all I can say is that I’ve been eating Camembert cheese this week – and suddenly it tastes much better. What will the scales say next week?
At 21% fat content, Camembert cheese tastes even better!
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