CAMEMBERT, France — On a small farm on the lush hillside of Normandy, Aude Sementzeff heats raw milk from cows overhead until it coagulates, then pours it into molds to make a round, pearl-white Camembert cheese.
For eight years, Sementzeff has been producing earthy, soft cheeses in small batches to be sold in Paris stores, continuing a tradition dating back to the 18th century. In France, Camembert is so common that soldiers in the trenches of World War I ate it as part of their daily rations.
“Camembert is there at every step of our history,” Sementzeff, 41, said as he carefully salted each cheese and turned it to perfect the crust. “So I think there is a strong connection to French culture.”
But now this famous delicacy with its tangy taste is in trouble, just like brie, another French cheese loved around the world.
The National Center for Scientific Research, France’s state science agency, has warned that Camembert, brie and even blue cheeses could “disappear” due to declines in the types of fungi that give the beloved cheeses their unique taste, smell and colour. and texture.
“Blue cheeses may be under threat, but the situation is much worse for Camembert, which is already on the brink of extinction,” the research center wrote in a note in January.
Although many cheesemakers insist the problem is not that dire, they acknowledge that cheeses like Camembert have become harder to produce, a result of their past efforts to design the perfect block.
Scientists call the role of fungi in cheesemaking the “delicious rot,” and it’s a critical part of the arduous process of making Camembert, which involves several weeks of aging. It can be added early, along with other enzymes, when milk is heated to form curds, or sprayed on the cheese later to aid the ripening process and encourage the soft, white rind prized by Camembert lovers.
Emily Monaco, an American writer and cheese expert living in Paris, said that in Camembert’s early days, it was found naturally in the air in moist caves where mushrooms aged. This is what gives each party its unique character, she said.
“Some will be a little more red, a little more blue or a little more grey,” Monaco said. “And people realized they really liked the white, pristine look of Camembert.”
As a result, in the 20th century, cheesemakers stopped leaving fungi to chance and began producing them in the laboratory. They isolated a special albino strain known as Penicillium camemberti that produced a perfectly white rind, and soon cheesemakers were using it around the world.
Benjamin Wolfe, who teaches microbiology at Tufts University and works on fermented foods in his laboratory, said that this brings advantages, such as consistency, but also disadvantages.
“Often when we domesticate plants, even our pets like dogs and sometimes cats, we choose certain species that we find attractive,” he said. “And when we do that, we take away from the overall pool of genetic diversity.”
Over time, Penicillium camemberti naturally loses some of its ability to reproduce. Instead, scientists grow the fungus using asexual reproduction; This is no different than planting a cutting to clone a flower instead of a seed. Growing the mushroom this way is possible, but more difficult, Wolfe said.
There is also a long-term concern about only one or two species of an organism still around: If a disease or pathogen emerges to which the remaining species is susceptible, it could wipe out the entire population.
Scientists say it’s a similar threat to that faced by other popular foods from declining global biodiversity, made worse by climate change.
The UN says higher temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and more frequent extreme weather events are changing fragile ecosystems around the world that plant and animal species depend on for survival. It also increases the incidence of diseases.
In the case of cheese, scientists have begun working to restore some of the genetic diversity to fungi. Lactalis, the world’s largest dairy company and producer of France’s popular President Camembert cheese, said it was “not concerned about the future of our products.”
“We are committed to protecting the biodiversity and safety of ferments,” Lactalis said in a statement. “Our mission is the sustainability of the knowledge and cheese heritage of which yeasts are an integral part.”
Ironically, large industrial producers who rely entirely on laboratory-grown mushrooms may face a tougher challenge in the future than small, artisanal farms, where the presence of animals and lack of chemicals mean there is still a wide variety of wild-growing mushrooms in the environment. .
Writer Monaco said future cheese lovers may need to accept the fact that Camembert may not look and taste the same. Part of the beauty of cheese, he said, comes from variable factors, such as how it is shaped by the environment or region and whether the grass fed to dairy cows receives more or less sun in any given year.
“If we want everything to stay the same, we’re going to have trouble moving forward,” he said. “If we’re excited about the fact that every Camembert you try will have its own unique personality and flavor as we move forward, then that’s what we can look forward to.”
This article first appeared on NBCNews.com.