triple cream
Noun: A fresh, soft French cheese with a very high fat content, specifically containing a minimum of 72% fat in the dry matter. This high fat percentage gives it an exceptionally rich, creamy, and smooth texture.
The term "triple cream" is used specifically to classify and describe a type of luxurious cheese based on its legal fat content. It is often served as a dessert cheese or as part of a cheese board. - For a decadent treat, try a triple cream like Brillat-Savarin. - The cheese shop's selection included several excellent triple creams from Normandy.
- As a Modifier: The term can function attributively to describe other nouns related to the cheese.
- We enjoyed a triple-cream brie with our wine. (Here, "triple-cream" describes the type of brie.)
- Double Cream Cheese: A related category of soft cheese with a lower, but still high, fat content (typically 60-75% fat in the dry matter).
- Crème Fraîche: A cultured cream, not a cheese, but shares the characteristic of high fat and rich texture.
- Rich cheese
- High-fat soft cheese
This is a technical, regulated term in cheese-making and labeling, particularly within French appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) standards. The "triple" refers not to a literal tripling of cream, but to the cheese's placement in the highest tier of fat content for fresh, soft cheeses.
- fresh soft French cheese containing at least 72% fat