What Is Mimolette Cheese?

Mimolette is an aged French cheese known for its bright orange paste, roughly spherical shape, and pitted natural rind. Mimolette is a very firm, sharp cheese with a flavor ranging from mild to sweet and sharp, depending on its age. Once cut open, wheels of mimolette often resemble sliced cantaloupe. It's also known as Boule de Lille, after the town in northern France where it originated.

What Is Mimolette?

When imports from the Netherlands were barred from entering France during the Franco-Dutch War in the 1670s, the French could no longer import the similarly spherical Edam. As a substitute, finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert drafted cheese producers in northern France to make a similar cheese that would be distinguished by a bright rather than pale color, and Mimolette was the result. Mimolette originally got its color from carrot juice, while today, annatto seed is used to create its signature deep orange paste. 

Mimolette also features a unique rind on which molds and other beneficial microorganisms are allowed to grow naturally through the affinage, or aging, process. Cheese mites, tiny arachnids that appear as specks of dust to the naked eye, also live on and consume the rinds of cheese. Often, the cheesemaker or affineur treats the exterior of the wheels to remove or mitigate the action of cheese mites. With Mimolette, however, cheese mites are introduced to the cheese and allowed to burrow their way into the rind under monitoring from the affineur, which creates the cheese's signature pockmarked texture and intensifies the flavor of the cheese by allowing moisture to escape.

The cheese was temporarily banned from being imported into the U.S. in 2013 on the grounds that it contained over the limit of cheese mites per cubic inch of product, as cheese mites can cause an allergic reaction for some people if consumed in large quantities. However, the ban was lifted the following year. 

How Mimolette Is Made

Raw milk is warmed in vats, and cultures and rennet are added to begin fermentation and coagulate the milk. During coagulation, the cheesemaker adds a liquid dye derived from annatto, the seed of an herb that is often used as a food dye. This gives the finished product its bright orange paste. 

The curd is cut and put into bowl-shaped molds that give Mimolette its signature flattened sphere form. The curds are pressed to shape them and remove excess whey before they are brined for three days to remove additional moisture and help with rind formation. Next they head to the cheese cave to age for anywhere from a couple of months to two years. During this time, the affineur will strike each wheel with a small wooden mallet, listening for signs of defects such as air bubbles in the cheese. Wheels with these defects will be sold when young, while others will be allowed to age longer. Finally, around six months, they are moved to another cave to allow molds and cheese mites to work on the rind for up to another 18 months before being sold.

Substitutes 

Young, mild, semifirm cheeses such as Edam or Gouda may serve as a substitute for young wheels of Mimolette. For older wheels, a long-aged gouda such as Beemster XO or another hard, flavorful grating cheese is a good substitute. 

Types

Mimolette is typically classified based on its age. It can be sold after anywhere from six weeks for very young, mild batches to two years. The oldest wheels are sold as très vieille (extra aged) and have a hard, waxy texture to the paste and a fruity, hazelnutty flavor.

Uses

Enjoy Mimolette as a table cheese paired with bourbon, strong beers like Scotch ales or barley wines, or earthy, rustic red wines. Shave it into a fresh green salad with a bright vinaigrette to add vivid color and richness. Mimolette can also be grated into gratins, macaroni and cheese, or other baked or melted cheese dishes to add savoriness. It should be paired with a milder, softer cheese, as it’s not a good melter on its own.

Storage

Store pieces of Mimolette in their original packaging in your refrigerator for up to three weeks. After opening, rewrap Mimolette tightly in its cheese paper, or wrap it well in parchment or waxed paper and then enclose it in an unsealed plastic sandwich bag. Place the cheese in your refrigerator's cheese drawer or even in the crisper to protect it from dry air. Longer-aged wedges can be stored for several weeks if well wrapped and kept in the coldest part of your refrigerator. 

If mold forms on the cheese, cut around it carefully with a knife to remove it, taking care not to draw the knife though the cheese, which may spread the mold. 

Mimolette Recipes

• Easy Baked Polenta With Parmesan Cheese
• Parmesan Stuffed Mushrooms
• Extra Special Three-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

Can You Eat the Rind?

While the rind of Mimolette is technically edible, it's often very dry, hard, and unappealing, especially in extra-aged wheels, and should generally be avoided.