Port Salut cheese, semisoft cow’s-milk cheese first made by Trappist monks on the west coast of France in the mid-1800s. The name later became the registered trademark of the Société Anonyme des Fermiers Réunis for Saint-Paulin, a generic cheese type similar to the original Port Salut, with a mild, savoury flavour and a smooth, semisoft texture.
Port Salut is produced in thick disks of about 9 inches (23 cm) in diameter, weighing about 5 pounds (2.3 kg). It keeps well for several weeks or longer if securely wrapped. Port Salut is widely imitated; American versions tend to be milder, and those from Denmark are generally stronger than the French. Oka cheese, first made at a Trappist monastery at the village of Oka in Quebec, is a popular Canadian version.