Reblochon

Appearance & taste

A Reblochon is a flat cylinder with a slightly bevelled edge, about 14 cm wide, 3.5 cm high and weighing 450 to 550 g. A smaller size of about 9 cm in diameter and 230 to 280 g is also protected and may bear the addition “petit”.

The thin, even rind is washed during ripening. It is yellow to yellow-orange and wholly or partly covered by a fine, short white layer. This “milk mould” is formed by microorganisms on the surface, above all Geotrichum candidum; according to the specification, they also shape the texture and flavour. The paste is not very firm, even, soft and creamy, cream to ivory-yellow, and may have small holes. It tastes slightly salty.

Production

The milk may only come from cows of the Abondance, Montbéliarde and Tarentaise breeds. In summer they must spend at least 150 days on pasture; in winter they are given hay every day. The basic feed of the dairy cows must come mainly from the area of origin, entirely or at least 75 %, depending on the altitude of the farm; only hay may be bought in from outside. Concentrated and dry feed are limited to 1,800 kg per cow per year. Silage, fermented feed and wrapped bales are prohibited.

The cows are milked twice a day, and the milk must be processed quickly. It goes raw and untreated into open vats and is made into cheese at a low temperature. According to the specification, the method is simple: little heating, rapid inoculation, no drying of the curd in the vat. This results in a short ripening period. Milk production, cheesemaking and ripening take place in the area of origin.

The cheese is packed for the first time while still in the ripening room, so that the smear rind is preserved and drying out and unwanted mould growth are avoided. Whole and half cheeses are given a spruce-wood board on at least one side in the packaging. Portions must have rind on three sides.

Origin & history

The area lies in the northern Alps. The mountain ranges rise from west to east, from 1,000 m in the foothills to over 4,000 m in the Mont Blanc massif; between them lie wide valleys above 500 m. There is a lot of rain; most of the agricultural land is pasture, with many alpine pastures and a particularly great variety of plants. In summer the herds move up to the alpine pastures.

According to the specification, the name comes from the French word “reblâche”, “to milk a second time”. According to the specification, this second milking was widespread from the 13th century: the farmers paid the landowner a fee for using the alpine pasture, and cows that had not been fully milked when this fee was set gave little but particularly rich milk at the second milking. From this the cheesemakers made a small, creamy cheese.

At first the cheese ripened in the herdsmen’s huts on the alpine pasture, later increasingly in the valley, where the profession of the affineur emerged. The affineur monitors the humidity and temperature in the ripening room. In the 19th century trade in Reblochon expanded, helped by the development of transport routes.