Pélardon

Appearance & taste

Pélardon is a small cylinder with rounded edges. Eleven days after renneting it weighs at least 60 g, measures 60 to 70 mm in diameter and is 22 to 27 mm high. The fine rind is wholly or partly covered with pale yellow, white or blue mould. The paste is white to ivory, uniform and smooth when cut; with longer ripening it may become crumbly.

According to the specification, the cheese has varied plant and goat’s milk aromas by which the production area can be recognised; depending on the place of production and the season, further notes are added. The label may state “fromage fermier” (farmhouse cheese) if the conditions for this are met.

Production

The milk comes from goats of the Alpine, Saanen and Rove breeds or their crosses. The goats feed mainly on what they find on pasture: wild trees, shrubs and herbs, permanent grassland with native flora and temporary pastures. Below 800 m they graze on at least 210 days a year, above that on at least 180 days, and each goat has at least 2,000 m² of pasture in the area. Hay as well as cereals and oilcake are permitted as supplements.

Raw whole goat’s milk is used, without standardising its protein and fat content. It is inoculated with ferments from the whey of the previous batch; bought ferments are permitted only at the start of lactation, after interruptions or in dairies with collected milk. The milk is coagulated slowly by acidification. The curd is not cut but ladled into the moulds individually by hand or with a distributor, and the whey drains off on its own. Humidity and temperature are gently controlled during ripening. Fresh and ripening cheese may not be stored under protective gas. Milk production, cheesemaking, ripening and packaging take place in the area.

Origin & history

The area stretches from the Cévennes valleys on the edge of the Causses across the limestone massifs with garrigue in the departments of Gard and Hérault and the upper valleys of the Lergue, Orb and Jaur to the southern slope of the Montagne Noire and the Hautes Corbières. The climate is Mediterranean, with high temperatures, rain mainly in spring and autumn, and dry summers. According to the specification, the barren, mountainous and scrubby terrain with holm and downy oaks, chestnuts, pines, maquis and garrigue is particularly suited to goats, which graze around 59,000 ha of heath and wooded rangeland. They keep open areas that would otherwise become overgrown.

According to the specification, the origins of the cheese in Languedoc go back a long way. It explains the name most likely with Pliny the Elder, who mentions a cheese called “Peraldou” that was popular for its taste; the name is said to derive from “pèbre” (pepper), which points to a sharp taste. Abbé Boissier de Sauvages lists the cheese as “Péraldou” in his Occitan dictionary of 1756. According to the specification, the method of production has hardly changed over time.