Camembert

Legend has it that an inhabitant of Camembert, one Marie Harel, invented the cheese which bears the village's name. She was reportedly given the "secret" of its manufacture by a priest. During the French Revolution (beginning in 1789), all Roman Catholic priests in France were required to swear allegiance to the newborn republic. Those prelates who refused were executed or forced into exile. Some chose to hide in the countryside while waiting for better days. In 1790, during the month of October, the Abbé Charles-Jean Bonvoust supposedly sought refuge with Marie at her farm, Beaumoncel. He came from the Brie, a region near Paris famous for its cheeses. In return for the shelter she offered him, he gave to Marie the "secret" of making Camembert cheese.

Although all of Normandy produces cheese, the Pays d'Auge and Pays de Bray are most well known thanks to the fame of certain cheeses: Camembert, Livarot, Pont-l'évêque and Neufchatel. Most famous of all is Camembert, a national symbol along with the baguette and the beret.