PONT-L'VQUE

one of the classic cow's-milk cheeses of Normandy, France, named for the eastern Normandy village in which it is produced. The traditional form of Pont-l'vque is a small, approximately four-inch (10-centimetre) square, with a golden-brown rind crisscrossed by marks from the straw mats on which it is ripened. The finely holed, golden-yellow interior is semisoft when young but after six to eight weeks softens, becoming almost, but not quite, runny. The aroma becomes increasingly pungent as the cheese ripens, and the rind becomes sticky. It should not, however, be rank or discoloured.