Episode 769: Boursin
Spilled Milk
Hosts Matthew and Molly dive into a tasting of Boursin cheese, exploring its creamy and crumbly texture. They recount the brand's historical
Key takeaways
- Boursin is made from pasteurized cow's milk and cream, debunking Molly's childhood belief that it was goat cheese.
- The garlic and fine herb flavor was launched in 1963 following a 'fake news' report in a French newspaper.
Main topics
- Boursin tasting and texture
- History of François Boursin
Notable quotes
It's the goat cheese Werther's original.
Conclusion
A delightful blend of culinary appreciation and historical trivia rega
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:04) I'm Matthew. And I'm Molly. And this is Spilled Milk, the show where we cook something destructive. What? Delicious. Eat it all and you can't have any. Speaker 2 (0:14) That's right. Today, Matthew didn't even cook anything. What? For the episode, I mean. Oh, okay. Today's episode is about boursin. How am I supposed to say this so I don't sound like a francophile snoot? Oh, that's a Speaker 1 (0:27) good question. So, okay. Let's jump into memory lane here in order to answer that question. I don't know if I've ever had this. I think of this as something my dad's parents, who I also call my grandparents, would eat and like always would always have in the house and would like, you know, put out like every every lunchtime. And so I thought of it as like a grown up to like, what's the next step past grown up? Speaker 2 (0:53) Hold on. You thought of it as like the equivalent of like a Speaker 1 (0:58) Werther's original. Yeah. Speaker 2 (1:00) It's like Speaker 1 (1:00) the goat cheese Werther's original. But also, like, I also knew that it's sort of it was sort of like a fancy cheese in my childhood imagination. And guess what? It's not a goat cheese. It's not? No. Oh, wow. Speaker 2 (1:13) OK, great. Speaker 1 (1:14) I'm learning this now. So, OK. So sometimes, you know. Oh, and they call it Borson. Borson. Yeah. Despite the fact that they spoke fluent French. OK. So I don't know. Should should I trust my my late? and not very nice grandparents' opinion on anything? Probably not. Borson. But it is kind of fun to say Borson. Speaker 2 (1:35) Borson. I Speaker 1 (1:36) didn't know it wasn't a goat cheese. Don't think I've ever tasted it. Maybe a little bit. as a thing I would have been afraid of as a kid because my taste ran more to like mild cheddar. But I'm so glad this is one of those. I assume you've had it many times, right? I Speaker 2 (1:50) have had it, but not many times. And the other thing I would say is, Matthew, doesn't this like check all the boxes of things you don't like? Cold, savory. Creamy. But Speaker 1 (2:00) it's cheese, right? It is cheese. I Speaker 2 (2:02) mean, Speaker 1 (2:02) I guess it's a cheese spread. We'll talk about what it is, I assume. I mean, but the thing is, like, you know more about this than me, certainly. And, like, so sometimes we do an episode where I'm like, let's do chawanmushi, like a thing that— And I'm Speaker 2 (2:14) like— Please define that for me. Speaker 1 (2:16) So this, we're turning it around. Molly is the victim of a Borson ambush. That's right. Thought it was goat cheese, like was ambushed with the truth that it's not. So what's your memory, Lane? Speaker 2 (2:27) So I definitely knew the name of this long before I had it. And I honestly am not sure that I had it before adulthood. I do feel like it's one of those things that- Am I opening Speaker 1 (2:37) this correctly? Did seem very Speaker 2 (2:39) 80s. I don't know how to open it. So- Okay. It does look like you're sort of looking up a lady's petticoat. It Speaker 1 (2:44) sure does. That's what it felt like. I think you're supposed to Speaker 2 (2:47) turn it up. Oh, Speaker 1 (2:47) look at Speaker 2 (2:48) that. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, pretty good, Speaker 1 (2:50) right? So it's kind of like it's a cheese puck. Speaker 2 (2:52) It is a cheese puck. So hold on. For those who are not familiar with it, let's discuss. And for those who think it's goat cheese, let's discuss as well. Speaker 1 (3:00) Yeah, who's your favorite character from Midsummer Night's Dream? Mine is cheese puck. Okay. Speaker 2 (3:06) But up Speaker 1 (3:07) cheese. Speaker 2 (3:08) OK, so Boursin is a French brand of soft, fresh cheese. Oh, I'm catching Speaker 1 (3:14) the aroma now. Speaker 2 (3:15) Yeah, it's made from pasteurized cow's milk and cream. It's got herbs in it. It's got garlic. And so Speaker 1 (3:21) it's a goat cheese. Speaker 2 (3:24) Yeah, it's Speaker 1 (3:25) a Speaker 2 (3:25) pasteurized cow's milk cheese. Okay. It's designed to be sort of spreadable. It is an interesting texture. The company describes it as being creamy and crumbly. Speaker 1 (3:34) Okay. Speaker 2 (3:34) Which is, I feel like a texture that kind of only exists in cheese. Speaker 1 (3:39) Yeah, and maybe like, I gotta come up with something else. Would Speaker 2 (3:43) we say that the halva that is the center of a Reese's peanut butter Speaker 1 (3:48) cup? Yeah, that is kind of creamy and Speaker 2 (3:49) crumbly. Speaker 1 (3:49) Would Speaker 2 (3:49) we say Speaker 1 (3:49) that that's Speaker 2 (3:50) creamy and crumbly? Speaker 1 (3:51) I think so. I think some other halvas could also be kind of on the creamy. Could also be creamy and crumbly. I feel like I'm going to come up with another one. Speaker 2 (3:58) So we're going to – I'm going to cut into this thing. Oh, it's crumbling. Speaker 1 (4:02) Okay. We made a discovery today, an amazing discovery. I meant to buy regular Triscuits and I didn't look closely at the packaging and I bought Triscuits Thin Crisps. Pretty good. Speaker 2 (4:13) Really good. In fact, well, I think this is about the most flavorful chip you want with boursin. Speaker 1 (4:18) I Speaker 2 (4:18) almost feel like Boursin is one of those things where you want like a Cars, what is it, water table or table water cracker? Which one is it? Speaker 1 (4:25) It's the water table. You know, as we determined, hydrologists do listen to our show. We've heard from them. Speaker 2 (4:33) And Speaker 1 (4:33) so they can Speaker 2 (4:34) tell us all about the Cars cracker. And Speaker 1 (4:37) yeah, like they know the water table. They know the water table cracker. Speaker 2 (4:41) All right, Matthew, before I say more about this cheese, how's it going for you? Oh, I like it. This cheese in your mouth. Speaker 1 (4:47) Yeah, no, I have no problem with this because it feels like cheese. Speaker 2 (4:50) I Speaker 1 (4:51) wouldn't say like a double cream cheese is why. I realize this is neither cream cheese nor double cream cheese. But like a brie, like I'm totally fine with that. It's not one of my favorite cheeses, but I'm not skeeved out by it at all. And this, you know, it's like a creamy cheese. Speaker 2 (5:05) Yeah. All right, so let's talk about what this stuff is. Please. Because it is. That Speaker 1 (5:09) was satisfying. I used the sharp corner of my Triscuit to cut off a little cheese. Oh, Speaker 2 (5:14) nice. For information for this episode, I not only looked at our usual tried and true Wikipedia, I also looked at the company's website. You can take this research with an even larger grain of salt than you usually do because a lot of it comes from the company. Speaker 1 (5:28) Is it made with large grains of salt? Speaker 2 (5:30) Probably. I Speaker 1 (5:30) know we'll probably get to this. Did you look at like which different flavors are offered? I did. Okay, great. Speaker 2 (5:34) I did. All right. So according to the Boursin website, there was this young cheesemaker from Normandy. His name was François Boursin. Speaker 1 (5:42) Oh, okay. Speaker 2 (5:43) Okay. And by the way, my computer has like stopped putting the CD under a C. Speaker 1 (5:49) You mean like- It Speaker 2 (5:50) won't Speaker 1 (5:50) do it anymore. Oh, wow. Like even like, you know, when one appears in writing, like it just leaves it off or you can't type it? I can't Speaker 2 (5:57) type one. Speaker 1 (5:58) Okay. Isn't Speaker 2 (5:58) that weird? Like I can hold the C down and it will pull up my little options. Oh. But when I tap on the one for the CD, it won't give it to me. Speaker 1 (6:07) Interesting. So I always do it by option C, C. Oh. I don't know. But I know you can hold it down also. Is this on your phone? I'm so glad. Let's get into this. Let's have a 45-minute tech support session. Did you bring all your devices? Speaker 2 (6:22) I didn't bring my laptop. I'll bring it back next time. Yeah. Speaker 1 (6:25) Can you share your screen? Speaker 2 (6:26) Okay. Here we go, everybody. So François Boursin was this cheesemaker from Normandy,