THE BEST PROOF OF AUTHENTICITY 45 CHEESES, 3 BUTTERS, 2 CREAMS PROTECTED DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN PDO, PROOF OF GUARANTEE AND HIGH PROTECTION Origin of all manufacturing steps. Manufacturing in the production area (milk production, processing and ripening) is the number one guarantee by a PDO. Protection against theft. A product with a designation may not be copied! This means Reblochon wouldn’t be Reblochon without a PDO! Similarly, all Cantal cheeses are PDO and so on, it can’t be any other way! Preserving expertise. Because not just anyone can make a PDO however they decide, all the steps of obtaining a PDO are strictly defined in a specification note which is tightly controlled by an independent certification organization. Helping the economy of French territories. PDO products boost economic activity in areas that are often limited in terms of agricultural production. Total transparency. With PDO, nothing is hidden; everything is clearly and unambiguously laid out in the specifications. Diversity of flavors. Choosing a cheese, butter or cream PDO is to choose among 50 pro- ducts, all very diverse in their tastes, just like the richness of man and the “terroir” of each product. PDO products also promise not to all have a standardized taste. 1 11 REGIONS OF PRODUCTION PDO CHEESES, BUTTERS AND CREAMS 7 11 5 4 3 8 10 2 9 1 6 THE BEST PROOF OF AUTHENTICITY 2 CONTENTS PDO values p. 1 7 NORMANDY 1 THE SOUTH-WEST • Camembert de Normandie p. 16 • Pont-L’évêque p. 17 • Ossau-Iraty p. 4 • Livarot p. 17 • Rocamadour p. 5 • Neufchâtel p. 17 • Laguiole p. 5 • Isigny butter and cream p. 17 • Bleu des Causses p. 5 • Roquefort p. 5 8 POITOU-CHARENTES 2 AUVERGNE • Chabichou du Poitou p. 19 • Charentes-Poitou butter p. 19 • Saint-Nectaire p. 6 • Cantal p. 7 9 THE SOUTH-EAST • Fourme d’Ambert p. 7 • Picodon p. 21 • Bleu d’Auvergne p. 7 • Fourme de Montbrison p. 21 • Salers p. 7 • Bleu du Vercors Sassenage p. 21 3 BURGUNDY / CHAMPAGNE • Rigotte de Condrieu p. 21 • Époisses p. 8 10 SAVOY • Bresse butter and cream p. 8 • Beaufort p. 22 • Mâconnais p. 9 • Reblochon p. 23 • Langres p. 9 • Abondance p. 23 • Chaource p. 9 • Chevrotin p. 23 • Charolais p. 9 • Tome des Bauges p. 23 4 THE LOIRE VALLEY 11 THE NORTH-EAST • Chavignol p. 10 • Maroilles p. 25 • Selles-sur-Cher p. 11 • Brie de Melun p. 25 • Valençay p. 11 • Brie de Meaux p. 25 • Sainte-Maure de Touraine p. 11 • Pouligny-Saint-Pierre p. 11 European PDO p. 26 5 FRANCHE-COMTÉ / ALSACE-LORRAINE Introducing CNAOL and CNIEL p. 28 Pairings with drinks p. 29 • Munster p. 12 • Comté p. 13 • Mont d’Or p. 13 • Morbier p. 13 • Bleu de Gex p. 13 6 THE MEDITERRANEAN • Banon p. 15 • Pélardon p. 15 • Brocciu p. 15 3 THE SOUTH-WEST ROCAMADOUR PDO LAGUIOLE BLEU DES CAUSSES ROQUEFORT OSSAU-IRATY Impressive landscapes, natural areas and wilderness, intense climatic variations: this region and its people give the impression of not having fully revealed themselves, of having retained an element of mystery, much like their cheese. They are all surrounded by legends that are told with no guarantee that any of them are true. The rest is left to the imagination. An amazing region. REGIONAL TREASURES Espelette peppers Ossau-Iraty Valley Valentré Bridge in Cahors CUTTING TIPS OSSAU-IRATY A cheese cut in the way it should be is even more appreciated and tasty! ossau-iraty.fr PDO SINCE 1980 3,466 TONS IN 2013 This thousand-year old ewe’s milk cheese evolved from pastoral farming in the Ossau-iraty region. It was used as a currency in many 14th century sales or tenancy contracts, as cheese was the first source of revenue for shepherds. Its name echoes its origins in the valley of Ossau in Béarn and the Iraty massif in Basque country. This cheese keeps for a long time and is traditionally Laguiole served with black cherry jam. Perfect wine match: a sweet Jurançon, red Irouléguy. 4 DID YOU KNOW? The first PDO for cheese was obtained by Roquefort in 1925. There was already concern at this time about preserving the designations of origin and guaranteeing the consumer that the cheese was from a defined geographical area. ROCAMADOUR LAGUIOLE aop-rocamadour.com fromage-laguiole.fr PDO SINCE 1996 PDO SINCE 1961 1,100 TONS IN 2013 664 TONS IN 2013 This small, flat, round cheese is part of This cheese which could weigh up to the “cabécous” family, which literally 50 kg, almost disappeared during the means “little goat” in the “Langue d’Oc” years of rural exodus before it obtained (a language that used to be spoken in the AOC status. Since the 12th century, Southern France). It was in fact called made with milk from cows reared on “cabécou de Rocamadour”; before the the Aubrac plateau, Laguiole is produced name was shortened quite simply to all year round and ripens for a minimum “Rocamadour”, a village situated in the of four months. It keeps well and it centre of the Appellation area. This small, becomes even tastier when matured for tasty, creamy treat is irresistible - thickly ten months. spread on a lightly toasted piece of bread, Perfect wine match: a Marcillac. it’s a pure delight. Perfect wine match: a Cahors. BLEU DES CAUSSES ROQUEFORT bleu-des-causses.com roquefort.fr PDO SINCE 1953 PDO SINCE 1925 537 TONS IN 2013 16,898 TONS IN 2013 This blue cheese is produced in Aveyron It was the first cheese to obtain the and in small quantities in Lozère. Made Controlled Designation in 1925. Made with cow’s milk, the curd is moulded from ewe’s milk, Roquefort is a pillar of then drained before the mould culture French culinary heritage. Legend has it “Penicillium Roqueforti” is added in order that a shepherd, eager to follow his beloved, to give it its characteristic blue interior. left his herd and his lunch, consisting of Matured for a minimum of 70 days, Bleu bread and curdled milk, in the Cambalou des Causses is full of character and is caves. When he returned the bread was best served as a generous wedge. mouldy and the milk had transformed into Perfect wine match: a sweet Bergerac. a bluish cheese. Roquefort was born! Perfect wine match: a Montbazillac, a Banyuls, a sweet Bergerac. 5 AUVERGNE FOURME D’AMBERT PDO SAINT-NECTAIRE BLEU SALERS D’AUVERGNE CANTAL Situated in the mountains, Auvergne is the land of wide open spaces formed over thousands of years by significant volcanic activity. Today, though the volcanoes are no longer active, the region and its people have maintained their strong traditions, especially those concerning cheeses, whose reputation exceeds the peaks. REGIONAL TREASURES Vulcania Chain of Volcanic hills Salers’s cows DID YOU KNOW? SAINT-NECTAIRE The weight of annual French production of PDO cheeses, butters and creams is equivalent to 22 Eiffel Towers: 225,618 tons. “PDO are just as much a part of fromage-aoc-st-nectaire.com French heritage as the Eiffel Tower”. PDO SINCE 1955 13 270 TONS IN 2013 Well known for its soft and supple interior, this robust rustic cheese was introduced to the table of Louis XIV by Maréchal de la Ferté-Sennecterre. The Appellation zone, located in the heart of the famous Auvergne volcanic chain, is one of the smallest in France, although, one of the most famous. Matured for four to six weeks and with an orange or grayish rind, Saint-Nectaire never fails to make an impression. Perfect wine match: a Côtes-d’Auvergne. 6 DID YOU KNOW? PDO represent: • 13,000 jobs in processing and refining, • 45,000 jobs on dairy farms. CANTAL FOURME D’AMBERT jaimelecantal.com fourme-ambert.com PDO SINCE 1956 PDO SINCE 1972 13,718 TONS IN 2013 5,072 TONS IN 2013 40 cm in diameter, 40 cm in height, Fourme d’Ambert was born in the Puy- 40 kg, it is the oldest cheese in the world! de-Dôme mountain zone and hills of Its peculiarity is that it is pressed twice; Livradois-Forez. Its history goes back to the milk curds are pressed before being the Gaul druids. Matured for a month in churned, salted and, finally moulded and cool, humid cellars, the cheese is pricked pressed again. Depending on the time of all over to aerate the interior and to allow ageing, three varieties are available on the blue mould to develop. Fourme d’Ambert market: young Cantal (one to two months), is the mildest blue cheese. “entre deux” (three to six months) and Perfect wine match: a sweet white wine “vieux” (over eight months). The latter like Coteaux du Layon, a Muscat. may be recognized by the thickness of its crust and the color of its texture. Perfect wine match: a red Gaillac. BLEU D’AUVERGNE SALERS fromage-aop-bleu-auvergne.com aop-salers.com PDO SINCE 1975 PDO SINCE 1961 5,083 TONS IN 2013 1,399 TONS IN 2013 Bleu d’Auvergne would not have come to Unlike the neighbouring Cantal, Salers light were it not for Antoine Roussel, a can only be produced from May to October. young trainee pharmacist who left his native When clearly marked “Tradition Salers”, Auvergne to work in Rouen. It was here in the cheese is made exclusively from Salers 1854, that he perfected the art of the blue cows’s milk, while “Salers-Salers” denotes mould character of this cheese, a secret that milk from other breeds may have been which is now handed on from producer to used.