Brie (BREE) is a soft cow's milk cheese, originally made in an area once called Brie. This area is now part of the Paris urban sprawl, and is now called Seine-et-Marne. There are two types of Brie, Brie de Melun (BREE deuh meh-LOON) and Brie de Meaux (BREE deuh MOH) whose names are protected by the French government, but the word Brie, however, is not protected.
In common use, the word Brie is often mistakenly used as a generic term for any soft, bloomy rind cheese, and Brie often gets confused with Camembert (KAM-uhm-behr).
