Cassel Boulet

Artisan mimolette no longer exists, but there is a cheese that is very similar while managing to retain its own uniqueness : Cassel Boulet (Cassel ball) from the Templiers Farm in Oxelaëre (French Flanders) created by Marie-Christine Dubois. Its name comes from a local legend : the town of Cassel was under siege and the residents were saved from famine by people from surrounding towns who would toss them cheese over the city walls : a round, hard cheese was loaded into cannons instead of cannon balls  ! Marie-Christine’s cheese is a 500-gram round ball made from unpasteurized milk and pressed for 24 hours straight. Annatto colouring is added to the milk and the cheese is aged on wood for at least two months, turned three times per week and brushed before leaving the cellar. « My husband and I started out in 1983. We took over the dairy and hog farm from my in-laws. At the time, we only had Holsteins. I have nothing against them, but I just really like Flemish Reds which I came to know through my parents who bred and competed with this race. It is cow that doesn’t produce a lot of milk, it’s rare to get even 8 000 litres a year, but its protein content is very high (34 to 35) and this is good for making cheese.  » At first, Marie-Christine and her husband tried to increase the cow herd and phase out the hog herd, their farm being located right on the town square. But right after taking over, dairy quotas came into effect (1984). « We looked for a viable solution and decided to go into cheese farming, while continuing to replace the Holsteins with Flemish Reds. » Today, the herd totals fifty-odd cows.

Fifty-odd Flemish Reds

Marie-Christine discovered her profession at the Quesnoy Training Centre, where she met an « exceptional professor » who gave her the desire to research and make cheese : « I wanted to create cheese that came from the land, and I wanted to set myself apart from Bergues. I don’t know a thing about cheese making and for the first few years, my husband, my parents (who help out) and I learned something new every day ! » In 1992, the Cassel Boulet was officially created. It is the only unique speciality of the Templiers Farm (except for butter and yogurt), and is a registered trademark. Its paste is much softer than one expects after holding it, the taste is sharp. Today, Marie-Christine, who lost her husband in 2001, works with her daughter, Marie : the young woman received her rural trade diploma in 2007 and appears ready to follow in her mother’s footsteps. The Farm, which already has a shop and a rental cottage (10 to 12 people) in a former Presbytery has not finished innovating. To order your Cassel Boulet, contact the farm directly (see our page of addresses, page 50) or contact Losfeld Wholesalers in Roubaix, which can handle all the logistics necessary for shipping to France and abroad.