Fourme d'Ambert () is a semi-hard French

blue cheese Blue cheese is any cheese made with the addition of Microbial food cultures, cultures of edible Mold (fungus), molds, which create blue-green spots or veins through the cheese. Blue cheeses vary in flavor from mild to strong and from slightly ...

. One of France's oldest cheeses, it dates from as far back as

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...

. It is made from raw cow's milk from the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

region of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, with a distinct, narrow cylindrical shape. The semi-hard cheese is inoculated 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 blu ...

'' spores and aged for at least 28 days. Almost identical to Fourme de Montbrison, the two were protected by the same AOC from 1972 until 2002 when each was recognized as its own cheese with slight differences in manufacture. A likeness of the cheese can be found sculpted above the entrance to a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

chapel in La Chaulme, Puy-de-Dôme. Although most often produced with pasteurized milk by industry and ''Coopératives'', more recently ''

artisanal An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

'' production has begun using raw milk, and ''farm'' or ''fermier'' production has now restarted. Currently, four farmers produce annually up to 35 tonnes (38.58 tons) of fourme d'Ambert fermière AOP made with raw milk.

References

Cow's-milk cheeses Cuisine of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Blue cheeses French cheeses Occitan cheeses {{france-cheese-stub

See also

References