Pouligny-Saint-Pierre

Appearance & taste

Pouligny-Saint-Pierre has the shape of a steep pyramid with regular edges and a square base. The rind bears a superficial coating of mould; it is wrinkled, ivory white and marbled, sometimes also slightly bluish. The cheese holds together when cut, and the cut surface is clean, homogeneous and smooth, white with occasional ivory tones. The paste is creamy and melting.

The specification describes the taste as balanced, not too salty and not too acidic, marked by milky and fermented aromas with notes typical of goat, of mushroom and of nuts. The cheese contains at least 45 % fat in dry matter.

There are two sizes: the Pouligny-Saint-Pierre weighing at least 250 g after the minimum ripening period and the small one, which weighs at least 150 g and may bear the addition “petit” (small). The label shows the name in bold type.

Production

At least 75 % of the dry matter of the dairy goats’ total annual ration comes from the area. The goats graze or receive green fodder, hay and dry feed; grass and maize silage are prohibited. Supplementary feed is limited to 40 % of the ration, and genetically modified feed is excluded, as is the cultivation of transgenic plants on the farms’ land.

The raw milk is inoculated with a dairy ferment or with whey from a previous coagulation and coagulated slowly. The curd is ladled into the pyramid moulds with a small ladle; the whey separates spontaneously and slowly, and the cheese is dry-salted. The ripening businesses control the surface flora through temperature, humidity and duration. The cheese leaves the ripening room no earlier than ten days after renneting (the small one after nine days) and is sold by the piece. Milk production, cheesemaking and ripening take place in the area.

Origin & history

The area lies in the west of the Indre department around the village of Pouligny-Saint-Pierre, in the heart of the Brenne nature park. It is characterised by clay and limestone plateaus from the Jurassic and borders the Brenne wetlands to the north and the Creuse valley to the south. The microclimate is warmer and drier than in the surrounding area; cherry trees, heaths, aromatic plants, oaks, sainfoin and lucerne grow there. On this poor land, the inhabitants relied on the hardy, undemanding goat, “the poor man’s cow”.

At first the small farms made cheese for their own consumption. Later, collecting and ripening businesses picked up the cheese, let it dry and supplied markets in Paris, Limoges, Châteauroux, Blois and Lyon. The pyramid shape is said to be modelled on the bell tower of the church of Pouligny-Saint-Pierre. According to the specification, in 1972 Pouligny-Saint-Pierre was the first goat’s cheese in France to receive the AOC label.