Epoisses de Bourgogne is a soft cheese made with whole cow’s milk, produced in a village Époisses, France. Commonly called Epoisses, the cheese has a creamy, chewy and firm texture. With a distinctive soft red-orange colour, it is categorised as a smear-ripened cheese washed in marc de Bourgogne. It takes at least 6 weeks to mature fully.
Despite its pungent smell, the cheese has a spicy, sweet and salty flavour. It goes well with Trappist beer and Sauternes. Â
You may not know it, but Epoisses is actually a French word meaning “completely worth the effort” or “stinky but incredibly loveable” because the end result, a custardy bacon bomb, is oh-so-worth-it. One slurp of the intensely creamy paste of this French classic, and you’ll know why.