It had to happen one day of course. Being one of Phnom Penh’s and Siem Reap’s favourite cheese dealers, it was only a matter of time before we decided to take the leap to making our own. And so, we are delighted to introduce you to Le Rousseau,
a creamy, ivory-white fresh cow’s milk cheese born out of a wholly natural passion for cheese and the delicious flavours of Cambodia’s own cows and the protected pastures of Russey Treb National Park in Preah Vihear.
As a fresh cheese, you can eat Le Rousseau within days of its fabrication for a creamy, slightly grainy taste with light lemony notes from the fermentation. This is delicious on its own (we won’t tell if you eat it straight out of the fridge), with salads, or grilled on a piece of bread with a light sprinkling of herbs and olive oil. Alternatively, you can enjoy Le Rousseau after some time of maturation in our cheese cellar to discover a firmer, drier cheese with more pronounced flavours. As it matures, a wrinkly rind may develop, giving it added colour and charm.
To develop this cheese, we worked in partnership with Nicolas Rousseau, a French cheese specialist with more than 20 years’ experience in the course of which he has helped with the production of inspirational cheeses in France, Algeria, Mali, Niger and Madagascar.
Nicolas joined our team on the initial research trips to the Russey Treb National Park to verify the quality and production standards for the milk. Happy with what he saw, he returned to Phnom Penh, where he set to work with our team of chefs to show them how to make a range of cheeses, because Le Rousseau (named, of course, in his honour) is not all we have up our sleeves.
Soon, you’ll also find on our shelves another soft fresh cheese, with a rich creamy flavour as well as a luscious Fromage Blanc. And that’s not all. We’re also working on a Ricotta, a fresh granular cheese, and similar to the greuil or breuil made of sheep’s milk that is made in the Bearnaise and Basque provinces, for which the locals are very rightly completely crazy. It’s delicious on its own, with a sprinkling of sugar, a spoon of jam, or with coffee, but for the moment, we’ll be putting it in a range of Khéma dishes for you to enjoy.
We’re also looking forward to developing our very own Raclette and Mozzarella. But that will be another story for another day…
