It was one of Napoleon's favourite cheeses, but French pride in their Camembert has suffered a blow after a Canadian version of the soft, creamy delicacy native to Normandy was voted the world's best.
cheese made in Quebec has come first in the Camembert category at the World Championship Cheese Contest, held in Wisconsin in the US.
L'Extra, produced in Saint-Hyacinthe, east of Montreal, beat the top French Camembert, Isigny Sainte-Mere, which won the title in 2010 but was placed only 12th this year.
Although another French cheese was named the overall winner of the "world's best cheese" award, that was eclipsed by the aftertaste of losing the Camembert prize.
"How can it be?" lamented the 'Ouest-France' newspaper while the 'Journal du Dimanche' described it as "a humiliation for France".
The setback has rekindled a row over whether 'Camembert' should be a protected geographical appellation like 'Champagne'.
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2023]