Laguiole

Appearance & taste

Laguiole is a tall cylinder 30 to 40 cm in diameter; its height is 0.8 to 1 times the diameter, and it weighs 20 to 50 kg. The dry rind is whitish to light grey at first and can turn amber-brown to stone-grey with ripening. The paste is ivory to straw-yellow. The cheese contains at least 45 % fat in dry matter and at least 58 % dry matter.

Depending on its age, the milky flavour is medium to strong and balanced, with notes reminiscent of fresh hay or hazelnuts. It lingers for a long time and is carried by the typical aroma of a raw milk cheese.

The bull of Laguiole and the word “Laguiole” are embossed into the cheese, together with an identification mark. The label can be printed directly on the rind or applied as printed muslin. The term “buron” is reserved for cheese made from the milk of a single herd that grazes on mountain pastures above 1,000 m from 25 May to 13 October; it is made in a permanent hut at this altitude.

Production

The milk comes from cows of the Simmental Française and Aubrac breeds or their crosses. Their basic feed comes from the area: grass and hay from meadows and pastures; maize silage, grass silage and other feed stored moist are prohibited. For at least 120 days a year the basic feed consists of pasture grass. Supplementary feed is limited, on pasture to 3 kg of dry matter per cow per day, on annual average to 6 kg. Genetically modified feed is prohibited.

Raw whole milk is processed whose protein and fat content is not standardised; any physical treatment is prohibited. The curd is drained twice, first in the cheese press and then in the mould after moulding, so that the paste has a high dry matter content. The cheese ripens for a long time in cool (6 to 12 °C) and damp cellars and is regularly rubbed and turned. Milk production, cheesemaking and ripening take place in the area. Laguiole is also sold in pieces, cubes, strips, slices or grated.

Origin & history

At the centre of the area lies the Aubrac high plateau at an average altitude of 1,000 m; in the west and south the rivers Truyère and Lot form the boundary. The soils are basalt or granite. In the harsh climate, continental and mountain influences from the Auvergne, with long, cold, windy and often snowy winters, meet influences from southern France that bring heat, heavy rainfall and storms. According to the specification, aromatic plants such as spignel, wood cranesbill, yarrow, knapweeds, large-flowered selfheal and thyme grow on the pastures far more often than elsewhere.

From the 12th century the monks of the abbeys of Aubrac and Bonneval laid down rules for making the cheese, in order to feed the pilgrims in winter with the summer milk; the farmers of the surrounding area adopted them. Because milk was only plentiful in the grazing season, the farmers developed a large cheese that kept for a long time. In 1897 the mountain farmers formed a sales cooperative, which became a protection association in 1939 and obtained recognition of the designation of origin in 1961.