Chabichou du Poitou

Appearance & taste

Chabichou du Poitou has the shape of a small truncated cone called a “bonde” because it resembles a wooden barrel bung. At the end of the minimum ripening period it bears the mark “CdP” on top and weighs at least 140 g. The thin rind has a superficial white, yellow or blue mould coating. The white paste is firm, homogeneous and fine and keeps a natural elasticity. Young cheese is melting; after longer ripening the paste becomes crumbly, and a creamy layer may form under the rind.

When young, the cheese tastes mild and lactic. After a few weeks of ripening, the goat’s cheese flavour becomes more pronounced and lasting, sometimes with notes of dried fruit, especially hazelnut. The specification describes the taste as not too salty, not too sour and not too bitter.

Production

At least 75 % of the goats’ annual ration comes from the area. At least 55 % of the ration consists of feed produced entirely in the area, including at least 200 kg of dry matter of lucerne or other legumes per goat per year. Silage is prohibited; wrapped bales, compressed feed and dry feed are limited in quantity.

The cheese is made from raw milk, curdled with lactic acid and a little rennet, and is neither pressed nor cooked. The truncated-cone shape makes draining difficult; producers therefore control the acidification and the three stages of draining, salting and drying, which also prepare the formation of the rind. The strong acidification of the curd favours deacidifying yeasts, which pave the way for the mould Geotrichum. The cheese ripens for at least ten days, with the ripening facility controlling the temperatures. Milk production, cheesemaking and ripening take place in the area.

Origin & history

The area corresponds to the Haut-Poitou, a limestone plateau that extends east to the edge of the Massif Central and south into the Charente. The clay-limestone “Terres de Groie” predominate, and in the south there are also red “chestnut soils”. The climate is influenced by the ocean but has less rainfall than the rest of the Atlantic coast, with a lot of sun and water shortage in summer. The goat farms lie amid large areas of arable land and exchange feed, above all lucerne, with the cereal farmers.

According to the specification, Poitou has historically been shaped by goat farming. In the past, the milk was mainly made into fresh cheese for the family, especially on small farms without cattle; goat keeping and cheesemaking were the women’s work. The small stoneware mould made it possible to make cheese from little milk. After the phylloxera crisis from 1876, many farms gave up winegrowing in favour of livestock; goat numbers in Deux-Sèvres and Vienne grew, and surplus cheese was ripened and sold at markets. Since the beginning of the 20th century, dairy cooperatives have also collected goat’s milk for cheesemaking.