‘Melts into an oozy blob’: the best supermarket brie, tasted and rated

Brie and baguette is one of life’s simplest pleasures. It’s a soft, white, mould-ripened cheese made from raw or pasteurised cow’s milk with a characteristically soft texture; gently warmed milk is separated into curds, inoculated with Penicillium candidum, salted and ripened for a month or longer.

Each cheese was tasted at room temperature after at least an hour’s rest so packaging and refrigeration aromas could soften and dissipate. The best overall was M&S French mature ripening brie (£3.50 for 200g at Ocado), a well-aged wedge with a brown-and-white rind packed in a wooden carton to hold together its gooey form.

It has a sweet, funky aroma, an aerated centre that melts into an oozy blob and a floral sweetness with a sour twang. For a splurge, Baron Bigod (£10.50 for 250g at Ocado) stood apart: oozy, complex and mature with a pungent, earthy and vegetal rind and a golden, gooey interior that is sweet and creamy.

United Kingdom

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