Chaource () is a

French cheese This is a list of French cheeses documenting the varieties of cheeses, a milk-based food that is produced in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms, which are found in France. In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle asked, "How can you gov ...

, originally manufactured in the village of

Chaource Chaource () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. A cheese is named after this town. See Chaource cheese. In the Chaource parish church there is a sculpture by The Maitre de Chaource. Population See also * Commun ...

in the

Champagne-Ardenne Champagne-Ardenne () is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is known for its sparkling white wine of the ...

region. Chaource is a 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 ...

cheese, cylindrical in shape at around in diameter and in height, weighing either or . The central pâte is soft, creamy in colour, and slightly crumbly, and is surrounded by a white ''

Penicillium candidum ''Penicillium camemberti'' is a species of fungus in the genus '' Penicillium''. It is used in the production of Camembert, Brie, Langres, Coulommiers, and Cambozola cheeses, on which colonies of ''P. camemberti'' form a hard, white c ...

'' rind.

History

The cheese has been made in its namesake village since at least the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. Cheese is still manufactured there, ranging from small cheese makers to industrial-scale production further away. It is only made in a tightly controlled area in the départements of

Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Yonne Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is l ...

Manufacture

It was recognised as an

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 bo ...

(AOC) cheese in 1970 and has been fully regulated since 1977. The AOC regulations state that: * Coagulation must be principally lactic and last for at least 12 hours. * Drainage of the cheese must be slow and spontaneous. Made using a similar recipe to that of

Brie Brie (; ) is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern '' département'' of Seine-et-Marne). It is pale in color with a slight grayish tinge under a rind of white ...

affinage Cheese ripening, alternatively cheese maturation or affinage, is a process in cheesemaking. It is responsible for the distinct flavour of cheese, and through the modification of "''ripening agents''", determines the features that define many dif ...

is usually between two and four weeks and the cheese is generally eaten young. The gently-salted central pâte has a light taste and a characteristic 'melt-in-the-mouth' texture. The fat content is a minimum of 50%. Regulations currently allow both

pasteurised Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. Th ...

or unpasteurised milk to be used during manufacture.

Style

In her 2010 book ''Cheese: Exploring Taste and Tradition'', Patricia Michelson says: "Chaource has a bitter nutshell-like flavor, with an earthiness reminiscent of the style of the wine here, and you would think it would be a perfect match for the cheese. You should be careful to find the perfect flavor partner, however, because the cheese is also on the salty side."

References

{{French cheeses French cheeses Aube French products with protected designation of origin Cow's-milk cheeses