Chevrotin is a soft

goat milk Goat milk is the milk of domestic goats. Goats produce about 2% of the world's total annual milk supply. Some goats are bred specifically for milk. Goat milk naturally has small, well-emulsified fat globules, which means the cream will stay i ...

based cheese produced in the historical region of Savoy, (

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

). Since 2002 it has had an

AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

designation.

Production

Chevrotin has been produced since the 17th century in the

Alpine foothills The Alpine foothills, or Prealps (german: Voralpen; french: Préalpes; it, Prealpi; ), may refer generally to any foothills at the base of the Alps in Europe. They are the transition zone between the High Alps and the Swiss Plateau and the Bavar ...

of the Savoyard Chablais,

Bauges The Bauges Mountains (French: ''Massif des Bauges'') is a mountain range in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Eastern France, stretching from the city of Annecy, Haute-Savoie to the city of Chambéry, Savoie, which is part of the French Prealps. Major ...

and

Aravis Aravis is a fictional character in 1954 novel '' The Horse and His Boy'' by C. S. Lewis. Aravis is a young Tarkheena, a female member of the ruling nobility of Calormen. With her horse, Hwin, who is revealed to be a talking beast from the l ...

districts. The landscape presents difficulties to agriculture, with steep gradients, a damp climate and a thin

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

-based soil that supports a restricted vegetation. The only domesticated animals that can feed here are

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of th ...

that are able to move around with the same

sure-footedness Sure-footedness is the ability, especially when hiking or mountain climbing, to negotiate difficult or rough terrain safely. Such situations place demands on a person's coordination and reserves of strength as well as requiring sufficient appreciat ...

as the chamois who live nearer the mountain peaks. Chevrotin is made from filtered but unpasteurised goat milk. In order to produce cheese meeting the AOC criteria, the milk must be produced by a herd of 80% alpine breed goats.Avis relatif à l'approbation par la Commission européenne de la modification du cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine protégée « Chevrotin »
The cheese is a fresh cheese with only a brief maturation period. Production tends to be a small-scale artisanal process. At a minimum, it needs three weeks to ripen. This takes place on pine timber shelves, and during ripening time each cheese is turned and washed with brine three times per week. Chevrotin received the

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bou ...

(AOC) and protected designation of origin (AOP) in 2002.

Appearance

The cheese takes the form of a flattened cylinder, with a diameter of 9 – 12 cm and a thickness of 3 – 4½ cm. It generally weighs 250 - 350 g. Chevrotin features a thin coating of soft reddish-brown, not unlike the rind of such better known cheeses as Munster. Chevrotin appears similar to

Reblochon Reblochon () is a soft washed-rind and smear-ripened French cheese made in the Alpine region of Haute-Savoie from raw cow's milk. It has its own AOC designation. Reblochon was first produced in the Thônes and Arly valleys, in the Aravis massi ...

which is made in the same regions of Savoy, applying similar processes, but which is produced lower down the valleys using

cow's milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

Taste

The cheese has a full flavor with an aromatic sourness reminiscent of the wild herbs included in the spring and summer diets of the mountain goats. Chevrotin can be eaten with bread at breakfast, or as part of a cheese-board at the end of a main meal. The best season during which to eat chevrotin is generally between May and September, approximately five weeks after manufacture, but it can be enjoyed any time between April and November. During the winter months, the goats are housed in sheds and their diet of hay does not produce the subtle herb based flavor for which enthusiasts value chevrotin.

References

French cheeses Goat's-milk cheeses French products with protected designation of origin Savoie {{France-cheese-stub

Production

Appearance

Taste

See also

References