Fourme de Montbrison is a cow's-milk

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

made in the regions of

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...

and

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It derives its name from the town of Montbrison in the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

''department''. The word ''fourme'' is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''forma'' meaning "shape", the same root from which the French word ''fromage'' is believed to have been derived. The cheese is manufactured in tall cylindrical blocks weighing between . The blocks are 13 centimetres in diameter and 19 centimetres tall, although the cheese is most frequently sold in shops in much shorter cylindrical slices. Fourme de Montbrison has a characteristic orange-brown rind with a creamy-coloured pâte, speckled with gentle streaks of blue mould. Its

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 boun ...

status was granted in 1972 under a joint decree with

Fourme d'Ambert Fourme d'Ambert is a semi-hard French blue cheese. One of France's oldest cheeses, it dates from as far back as Roman times. It is made from raw cow's milk from the Auvergne region of France, with a distinct, narrow cylindrical shape. The semi-h ...

, a similar blue cheese also from the same region. In 2002 the two cheeses received AOC status in their own right, recognizing the differences in their manufacture. With a musty scent, the cheese is extremely mild for a blue cheese and has a dry taste.

Manufacture

The curd is salted and placed into a mould before being removed and placed on racks made from

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

wood. The cheese is then turned by hand, ninety degrees at a time, over a period of twelve hours. The cheese is injected with ''

penicillium roqueforti ''Penicillium roqueforti'' is a common saprotrophic fungus in the genus ''Penicillium''. Widespread in nature, it can be isolated from soil, decaying organic matter, and plants. The major industrial use of this fungus is the production of blue ...

'' spores, and later injected with air to form pockets in the pâte to encourage spore development. The cheese must be aged for at least 28 days, though more often it is left for around 8 weeks. Around of milk are used to make each cheese. By regulation the cheese may only be manufactured in any of 33 ''communes'' of the Monts du Forez in the departments of

Puy-de-Dôme Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label=Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152.Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

. The finished cheese is a minimum of 50% fat, and although the majority of production uses pasteurised milk, the growing artisanal manufacturers are using unpasteurized milk. The total production in 2005 was 495 tons.

References

External links

Official site of Fourme de Montbrison AOC

Gourmet Cheese
En Anglais {{Blue cheeses French cheeses Occitan cheeses French products with protected designation of origin Cow's-milk cheeses Blue cheeses Forez Montbrison, Loire

Manufacture

See also

References

External links