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Cheese from France, Cévennes, Montagne Noire, Hautes Corbières and the garrigues of Gard and Hérault

Pélardon PDOPélardon

Raw whole goat milk is seeded with whey from the last batch and a very small dose of rennet, then left at least 18 hours to sour to pH 4.5 or below. The uncut curd is ladled by hand into moulds, drains on its own, is dry-salted, and is sold from 11 days after renneting as a small soft disc with a thin mould-flecked rind.

Fully documentedCheese3.5 days – 4.8 daysAOP (PDO)Family: Lactic soft-ripened cheese family (goat/sheep/cow lactic curd)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe. Each cheese weighs over 60 g at 11 days, 60–70 mm across and 22–27 mm high.
Raw whole goat milkFrom goats that graze open rangeland at least 180–210 days a year; no silage[cdc-pela2011]
Whey from the previous batchThe lactic starter; bought cultures only at the start of lactation, after a break, or for dairies that collect milk[cdc-pela2011]
RennetLess than 1 ml per 10 L of milk[cdc-pela2011]
Dry salt, fine or half-coarse, without phosphatesBrining is banned[cdc-pela2011]
Starterwhey from the previous batch (backslop), with a very small dose of rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.5 days – 4.8 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: raw whole goat milk from goats that graze garrigue and woodland

Step 1 of 7
Collect the raw milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
L. mesenteroides
Geotrichum candidum
Geotrichum
Moulds

The milk may be stored at most 15 h at 14 °C for farm cheeses, or at most 48 h at 4 °C for dairies. Concentrated or powdered milk, flavourings, colours, ultrafiltration and microfiltration are banned.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
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

Raw whole goat milk is seeded with whey from the last batch and a very small dose of rennet, then left at least 18 hours to sour to pH 4.5 or below. The uncut curd is ladled by hand into moulds, drains on its own, is dry-salted, and is sold from 11 days after renneting as a small soft disc with a thin mould-flecked rind. Made in 7 steps over 3.5 days – 4.8 days. The longest step, firm up and dry, takes 42 h – 3 days (Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine…) and runs at 12–18 °C (Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine…). Lactococcus lactis, the main acidifying bacterium and Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Geotrichum candidum do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step42 h – 3 daysSet[cdc-pela2011]Firm up and dry
Temperature12–18 °CSet[cdc-pela2011]Firm up and dry
AciditypH up to 4.5Set[cdc-pela2011]Let the milk sour into curd

What makes this one different

Pélardon is a slow, mainly lactic goat cheese from Mediterranean mountain and garrigue rangeland. Its starter is whey from the previous make; selected commercial ferments are allowed only at the start of lactation, after a break in production, or for operators who collect milk. Brining, freezing curd and modified-atmosphere packing are banned.

Milk
Raw whole goat milk; goats graze at least 210 days a year (180 above 800 m)
Curd
Slow lactic curd, more than 18 h to pH 4.5 or lower
Earliest sale
Sold only from 11 days after renneting
Size
Over 60 g at 11 days; 60–70 mm across, 22–27 mm high

Related ferments

Safety

This is a raw-milk soft cheese. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than pressed cooked ones such as Gruyère, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli. It says cooking the cheese well, as in an oven recipe, removes the risk; cutting off the rind does not.

History and sources

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

The specification gives Pliny's "Péraldou" as the likeliest origin of the name, said to come from "pèbre", pepper, because of its sharp taste. Abbé Boissier de Sauvages listed "Péraldou" in his Languedoc–French dictionary of 1756. The specification was homologated by decree no. 2011-1605 of 21 November 2011.

  1. [cdc-pela2011] Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine « Pélardon », homologated by décret n°2011-1605 of 21 November 2011 (JORF 23 November 2011), Bulletin officiel du ministère de l'agriculturespec
  2. [penland2021] Penland M. et al. 2021, Linking Pélardon artisanal goat cheese microbial communities to aroma compounds during cheese-making and ripening, International Journal of Food Microbiology 345:109130 (abstract)paper
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov