Crottin de Chavignol

Appearance & taste

Crottin de Chavignol is a small, flattened cylinder that bulges slightly at the sides; the edges are rounded, and the diameter is larger in the middle than at the top and bottom. When it leaves the farm or dairy, a cheese weighs 60 to 90 g, contains 37 to 48 g of dry matter and at least 45 % fat in dry matter.

The delicate rind is ivory-coloured, with or without white or blue mould. In the “repassé” type the cheese is covered with blue mould (Penicillium) and ripens in a closed atmosphere; its rind darkens to brown and its paste becomes soft.

Production

The milk comes only from goats of the Alpine breed. At least 75 % of the daily feed ration is produced in the area. Forage makes up at least half of the ration, consists of at least 70 % grass, hay or baled forage and comes entirely from the area; silage is prohibited. A farm needs at least one hectare of forage area in the area for every 12 goats, and at least one hectare of pasture for every 24 goats.

The raw whole milk coagulates mainly through lactic acid, with a small amount of rennet added. The curd is left to pre-drain on a cloth, then filled into a truncated-cone mould of specified dimensions and turned at least once in the mould halfway through draining; this creates the typical shape. The cheese ripens for at least ten days at controlled temperature and humidity. For the “repassé” type it is then sealed in stoneware pots. The curd may be frozen; however, cheese made from frozen curd may not be called “fermier” (farmhouse cheese). Milk production, cheesemaking, ripening and the freezing of the curd take place in the area.

Origin & history

The area lies mainly in the Pays-Fort-Sancerrois and extends into the Champagne Berrichonne, the Coteaux de la Loire and the Sologne. Meadows on clayey and clay-limestone soils provide feed for the goats.

It used to be a poor rural region whose farms grew mixed crops, fodder, wine and fruit and kept small, hardy ruminants. The goats were kept by the women, who also made the cheese. Pre-draining allowed the women of the Berry to postpone moulding and get on with their many other tasks in the house and farmyard. According to the specification, the name “crottin” probably comes from the word “crot”, which means “hole” in the Berry dialect and referred to the riverbanks where the women washed laundry. From the clay of these banks the farmers first made small oil lamps, and later small cheese moulds.

Goat keeping and cheesemaking have supplemented the farmers’ diet since at least the 16th century. On the farms and wine estates of the Berry, the small cheeses often served as food for the workers and day labourers in the fields and vineyards. Depending on the season and the amount of milk, they came with or without mould, and in the depths of winter as “repassé”.