Banon

Appearance & taste

The ripened Banon is completely wrapped in natural, autumn-brown chestnut leaves held in place with natural raffia ties crossed three to six times. With the leaves it measures 7.5 to 8.5 cm in diameter and 2 to 3 cm in height; without the leaves it weighs 90 to 110 g after ripening.

Under the leaves the rind is light yellow. After at least 15 days of ripening the paste is even, creamy and elastic. According to the specification, the double ripening, first without and then inside the leaf wrapping, creates the typical aromas.

Each cheese carries its own label, on which the name appears in letters at least as large as any other wording.

Production

The milk comes only from goats of the Provençale, Rove and Alpine breeds and their crosses; on average a goat may give at most 850 kg of milk a year. The goats feed mainly on pasture and on open grazing land, at least 210 days a year, and for at least four months most of their feed comes from pasture. At most 8 goats are allowed per hectare of pasture and at most 2 per hectare of open grazing land. Industrial farming and keeping without outdoor access are prohibited, and supplementary feed and feed from outside the area are limited.

Raw whole milk is used, without adjusting its protein and fat content. It is collected daily and heated to at most 35 °C; only rennet, milk ferments, ripening cultures and salt are added. The rennet is added at 29 to 35 °C, and the milk coagulates quickly. At most two hours later the curd is ladled by hand into moulds with drainage holes, turned at least twice in the first twelve hours, removed from the mould after 24 to 48 hours and salted. The cheese first ripens for five to ten days without a wrapping at a minimum of 8 °C. Then it is wrapped in chestnut leaves and ripens for at least ten more days at 8 to 14 °C and over 80 % humidity. Before wrapping it may be dipped in grape or pomace brandy. Milk production, cheesemaking and ripening take place in the area.

Origin & history

The area is shaped by the Provençal scrubland, the garrigue: poor soils, sparse vegetation and a dry, sunny climate, often cold in winter, in the Provençal uplands. Arable farming is difficult here, but goats find most of what they need to eat. In the past every farming family kept a few goats, the “poor people’s cow”, alongside a pig and some poultry. The cheese was first eaten at home and surpluses were sold at the markets, above all in Banon, where important routes crossed. Writings, mainly from the 19th century, show that the cheese quickly became known. After the Second World War production was geared towards sale.

Banon has always been coagulated with rennet; according to the specification, it is one of the few goat’s cheeses for which this is still common. Heat and drought made it impossible to keep the milk cool, so it had to coagulate quickly before it turned sour. The chestnut leaves, with their firm structure and their tannin, protected the cheese from air and let it ripen. This made it available all year round, even in winter, when the goats give no milk.