Laguiole (cheese)

The Laguiole , sometimes also Fourme de Laguiole, is a French semi-hard cheese . It is named after the small town of Laguiole and originally comes from the Aubrac , a landscape about 800 to 1400 m high in the south-western Massif Central in France . As an AOC or AOP cheese, it is only allowed to be produced in some places in the Aveyron , Cantal and Lozère departments in southern Auvergne .

Laguiole cheese

history

Cheese making in Auvergne has a long tradition - the Roman Pliny the Elder reported about it in one of his works. The Laguiole takes its name from the village on the Aubrac plateau . The Laguiole was first mentioned by name in the 4th century. Local tradition reports that the Laguiole was initially made in the 19th century in the mountains of Aubrac by monks from a monastery, who taught the herdsmen (French: buronniers ) their recipe. The Laguiole is now made in the burons , the dairy huts. Production peaked at the beginning of the 20th century, with 1200 shepherds producing 770 tons of Laguiole every summer . At the end of the 19th century, after the establishment of a sales association , the village of Laguiole became the center of production; Despite the expansion of the association's tasks to protect the brand in 1939, the production volume fell due to a lack of workers, the number of burons fell to 55 and in the 1950s the annual production was only 33 tons. By founding the Coopérative Fromagère Jeune Montagne in 1960, the year-round production of Laguiole was later enforced in 1976 - in 1991, 649 tons were again produced in 47 villages.

With the introduction of the milk-rich Holstein cattle in 1981, the previously exclusively used Aubrac cattle was slowly displaced in production and the quality of Laguiole fell due to the low protein content of Holstein cow's milk. Because the Holstein cattle also had difficulties adapting to the natural conditions of the Aubrac Mountains, they finally switched to the Swiss cattle breed Pie-Rouge-de-l'Est - a cattle with a milk yield of 4800 liters in 300 days with a high protein content of 32.5%.

In 1976 the Laguiole received its first AOC badge.

description

The Laguiole has a cylindrical shape. The diameter is 40 centimeters, the height is also 40 centimeters and it weighs between 45 and 48 kilograms. The natural thick bark is dry and white-orange in color, it becomes darker as it ripens. The dough is golden in color and the texture of the young cheese is smooth and elastic ; the older it gets, the more fragile it is.

Manufacturing

According to the traditional artisan tradition, the Laguiole was previously made in dairies with the milk of the Aubrac cattle . Today, only the dairy , founded in 1960 Coopérative Fromagère Jeune Montagne cheese in Laguiole ago and used for the milk from the Simmental Simmental (3.7% protein content of milk By comparison, was the milk-protein content of cattle breeds originally used 32.5%.) The molded cheese curd ages under the press for about two days; then it is crushed a second time, the dough is salted and poured into a mold lined with a special cloth. After being pressed again, the cheese matures in cellars for between 4 and 9 months.

taste

In terms of type, shape and taste, Laguiole is related to Cantal and Salers cheese , which are made using the same method. The Laguiole has a fat content of 45% fat i. Tr. and a dry matter content of 58 grams per 100 grams of cheese; it is slightly sour and very aromatic and piquant. It is suitable for consumption on bread; As a grated cheese, it is often used for gratinating casseroles and gratins . Cantal, Salers or Laguiole cheese are indispensable components of aligot , a typical regional dish.

Litigation

For years there has been a legal dispute over the brand name Laguiole , because the label was registered in 1993 by a Parisian importer without the knowledge of the municipality; Since then, imitation products of the traditional Laguiole knives made in China or Pakistan have been allowed to be marketed under the same name.

Web links

Commons : Laguiole Cheese - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kasuko Masui, Tomoko Yamada: French cheese . Ed .: Randolph Hodgson, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag , 1997, ISBN 3-453-12886-9 .

[Masui-1] Kasuko Masui, Tomoko Yamada: French cheese . Ed .: Randolph Hodgson, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag , 1997, ISBN 3-453-12886-9 .