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Cheese from France, Normandy

Pont-l'Évêque PDOPont-l'Évêque

Cow milk is ripened with cultures, set with animal rennet in small vats and cut into medium grains. The curd drains in square moulds for at least ten hours and is salted a few days later. The cheese ripens at least 18 days, brushed or washed with salt water and surface cultures, into a supple square with a whitish to reddish rind.

Fully documentedCheese29 days – 32 daysPDO (EU, 1996); appellation d'origine since 1972Family: Washed-rind (smear-ripened) cheese family (Munster and Époisses as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes the ingredients, temperatures and times, not amounts. Concentrating the milk, freezing the curd and modified-atmosphere storage are banned.
Cow milkAt least half the herd must be Normande cows; the milk may wait at most 48 h on the farm and 96 h in all before ripening starts (72 h for raw milk)[pont-cdc-2015]
Cultures of harmless bacteria, yeasts and moulds[pont-cdc-2015]
Animal rennetThe only coagulant allowed[pont-cdc-2015]
Salt and calcium chloride[pont-cdc-2015]
Water, salt and surface culturesFor brushing or washing the rind during ripening[pont-cdc-2015]
Startercultures of harmless bacteria, yeasts and moulds; animal rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 29 days – 32 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countYeastsMouldsup to 40 °C

What changes: Cultures may go into the cow milk, which matures below 40 °C for less than 26 h

Step 1 of 7
Ripen the milk with cultures
Time
up to 26 h
Set
Temperature
up to 40 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts
Moulds

Output: ripened milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the specification allows cultures of harmless bacteria, yeasts and moulds in the milk during maturation

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

Cow milk is ripened with cultures, set with animal rennet in small vats and cut into medium grains. The curd drains in square moulds for at least ten hours and is salted a few days later. The cheese ripens at least 18 days, brushed or washed with salt water and surface cultures, into a supple square with a whitish to reddish rind. Made in 7 steps over 29 days – 32 days. The longest step, finish ripening in the pack, takes at least 18 days (INAO 2015) and runs at 4–15 °C (INAO 2015). Cultures of harmless bacteria, yeasts and moulds allowed in the milk, which matures before renneting and Surface cultures (ferments de surface) in the washing solution, with yeasts and moulds allowed as cultures do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 18 daysSet[pont-cdc-2015]Finish ripening in the pack
Temperature4–15 °CSet[pont-cdc-2015]Finish ripening in the pack

What makes this one different

Pont-l'Évêque is square, not round, and is set with animal rennet in vats of at most 600 L. Its rind may be brushed instead of washed, and its minimum ripening is short, 18 days, so the rule book describes a mild cheese with a whitish to reddish rind rather than a strong one.

Milk
Cow milk; at least half of each herd Normande cows from 1 May 2017; cows graze at least 6 months a year
Shape and size
Square with sharp edges: petit 85–95 mm (180–250 g), standard 105–115 mm (300–400 g), demi 105–115 × 52–57 mm (150–200 g), grand 190–210 mm (1200–1600 g)
Fat
At least 45 g fat per 100 g dry matter
Ripening
At least 18 days from renneting, 21 days for the grand size

Related ferments

Variants

  • Petit Pont-l'Évêque85–95 mm square, 180–250 g
  • Demi Pont-l'ÉvêqueHalf-size rectangle, 150–200 g
  • Grand Pont-l'Évêque190–210 mm square, 1200–1600 g; ripens at least 21 days

Safety

Raw milk may be used, but it must reach the start of ripening within 72 h of the oldest milking, against 96 h for heat-treated milk. Freezing the milk, curd or fresh cheese is banned. ANSES names soft washed-rind cheeses such as munster and maroilles among the main sources of bacterial hazards in raw-milk cheeses in France, after bloomy-rind and short-aged uncooked pressed cheeses. ANSES advises pregnant women, people with weak immune systems, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses, except pressed cooked cheeses such as gruyère and comté.

History and sources

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

The cheese takes its name from the town of Pont-l'Évêque in Calvados. It has been known by that name since the 17th century, and literary and tax records point to the Middle Ages. In 1622 the Norman writer Hélie le Cordier praised it in a poem of 16 cantos. Wooden moulds gave it its square shape from the early 18th century. It became an appellation d'origine in 1972 and an EU PDO in 1996 [pont-reg-2015-795].

  1. [pont-cdc-2015] INAO, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine « Pont-l'Évêque », version applying from Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/795, Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'agriculture n°24-2015spec
  2. [pont-eu-1996] INAO, Application for registration of the PDO Pont-l'Évêque under Regulation (EEC) 2081/92 (registration summary, EN), eAmbrosia attachment 72602spec
  3. [pont-reg-2015-795] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/795 of 19 May 2015 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for Pont-l'Evêque (PDO), OJ L 127, 22.5.2015, p. 8; recital 1 says the PDO was registered under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996spec
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov