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Cheese from France, Aubrac plateau

Laguiole PDOLaguiole

Whole raw milk from Simmental and Aubrac cows is renneted at 30–35 °C, cut and pressed into a block called the tome. The tome matures for at least 12 hours, is milled to hazelnut-sized pieces, salted and pressed into large wheels for at least 40 hours. The wheels ripen at least four months in cellars at 6–12 °C.

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe rules fix the salt rate (18–24 g per kg of milled tome), the times and the temperatures, but no milk volume. A finished wheel weighs 20–50 kg and measures 30–40 cm across.
Raw whole cow milkFrom French Simmental or Aubrac cows or their crosses; not standardised, no physical treatment; renneted within 48 hours of the oldest milking[laguiole-cdc-2020]
RennetThe only coagulant allowed[laguiole-cdc-2020]
Cultures of bacteria, yeasts and mouldsAllowed when shown to be safe[laguiole-cdc-2020]
Salt18–24 g per kg of tomeMixed into the milled tome[laguiole-cdc-2020]
Starterraw-milk flora; cultures of bacteria, yeasts and moulds allowed

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.1 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countYeastsMoulds30–35 °C

What changes: Rennet goes into whole raw milk at 30–35 °C and it sets to a gel

Step 1 of 7
Rennet the raw milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
30–35 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts
Moulds

Output: curd.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
soft gel
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Whole raw milk from Simmental and Aubrac cows is renneted at 30–35 °C, cut and pressed into a block called the tome. The tome matures for at least 12 hours, is milled to hazelnut-sized pieces, salted and pressed into large wheels for at least 40 hours. The wheels ripen at least four months in cellars at 6–12 °C. Made in 7 steps over 4.1 months. The longest step, ripen in the cellar, takes at least 4 months (Ministère de l'agriculture 2021) and runs at 6–12 °C (Ministère de l'agriculture 2021). Lactic flora of the raw whole milk, plus any added cultures of bacteria, yeasts and moulds does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 4 monthsSet[laguiole-cdc-2020]Ripen in the cellar
Temperature6–12 °CSet[laguiole-cdc-2020]Ripen in the cellar

What makes this one different

Like Cantal and Salers, Laguiole is pressed twice with a milled and salted tome in between. It must use whole raw milk from Simmental or Aubrac cows, ripen at least four months (Cantal needs 30 days) and reach at least 58 % dry matter.

Use of the fresh tome
At the first production stage the pressed curd, the fresh Aubrac tome, is used in aligot, a mashed-potato dish
Milk
Raw whole cow milk from French Simmental and Aubrac cows; no silage; at least 120 days of grazing a year
Ripening
At least four months
Composition
At least 45 g fat per 100 g dry matter; at least 58 g dry matter per 100 g cheese
Size
Cylinder 30–40 cm across, 20–50 kg

Related ferments

Variants

  • Laguiole fermierMade on the farm from at most two consecutive milkings, with the warm morning milk over half the volume.
  • Laguiole buronMade in a fixed dairy building on the high pastures, from one herd grazing above 1000 m between 25 May and 13 October.

Safety

Made only from raw milk. The rules require at least four months of ripening and ban freezing the milk, curd or young cheese. The CDC says people at higher risk, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid raw-milk cheese unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The rules say it seems that monks of the Aubrac and Bonneval abbeys fixed the method from the 12th century, to store summer milk for winter pilgrims. Makers formed a selling union in 1897 and the AOC was granted in 1961. Production fell between 1940 and 1960 with the move away from the countryside, and a small cooperative relaunched it in 1960. The French PDO dairy products site counts 74 milk producers, 5 farmhouse producers and 2 production plants.

  1. [laguiole-cdc-2020] Ministère de l'agriculture 2021, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine protégée « Laguiole », homologated by arrêté of 31 July 2020 (JORF 11 August 2020), in force 8 March 2021 (BO-Agri notice)spec
  2. [shimano2022] Shimano S. et al. 2022, Do 'cheese factory-specific' mites (Acari, Astigmata) exist in the cheese-ripening cabinet?, Experimental and Applied Acarology 87:49–65 (abstract)paper
  3. [cnaol-laguiole] produits-laitiers-aop.fr (French PDO dairy products site), Laguiole PDO product pageweb
  4. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov