Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from France, Pilat massif

Rigotte de Condrieu

Raw whole goat milk is soured with whey from a previous curdling or a native lactic starter for 2–24 hours, then set with kid rennet at 18–25 °C. It curdles slowly for 18–24 hours to a firm lactic curd, which is ladled whole into small moulds, drained 20–24 hours, dry-salted on both faces and ripened at least 8 days, growing an ivory, white or blue mould coat.

Fully documentedCheese2.1 days – 4 daysAOP (PDO-FR-0782)Family: Lactic soft-ripened cheese family (goat/sheep/cow lactic curd)

Recipe

Rigotte de Condrieu, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe; the only dose it gives is the lactic starter, at most 3% of the milk volume. A finished cheese is a disc 4.2–5 cm across.
Raw whole goat milk, not standardisedOnly filtering and warming to 25 °C at most are allowed[cdc-2022]
Whey from a previous curdling, or a native lactic starterA starter grown in whole goat milk may make up at most 3% of the milk volume; commercial cultures only after an accident or restart[cdc-2022][eu-am02]
Kid rennetRennet from kid stomachs only[cdc-2022]
Dry salt[cdc-2022]
Ripening cultures (optional, from the producers' group's approved bank)[cdc-2022]
Starterwhey from a previous curdling, or a native lactic starter from the producers' group bank

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 days – 4 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Whey from the last batch goes into the raw goat milk and starts to sour it

Step 1 of 7
Sour the raw milk
Time
2–24 h
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Dairies may use milk of up to four milkings, seeded within 48 hours of the oldest; farms use the last two milkings at most.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Lactic bacteria from the whey or native starter begin to sour the milk.

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 soured with whey from a previous curdling or a native lactic starter for 2–24 hours, then set with kid rennet at 18–25 °C. It curdles slowly for 18–24 hours to a firm lactic curd, which is ladled whole into small moulds, drained 20–24 hours, dry-salted on both faces and ripened at least 8 days, growing an ivory, white or blue mould coat. Made in 7 steps over 2.1 days – 4 days. The longest step, sour the raw milk, takes 2–24 h (INAO 2022).

Key numbers
Main step2–24 hSet[cdc-2022]Sour the raw milk
Temperature18–25 °CSet[cdc-2022]Add kid rennet and curdle slowly
AciditypH 4.2–4.6Set[cdc-2022]Add kid rennet and curdle slowly

What makes this one different

A small lactic goat cheese, soured with whey or native Pilat starters and kid rennet, ladled uncut and ready after only 8 days. Its small mould was chosen to set it apart from the farms' cow cheeses.

Ripening
At least 8 days in total from unmoulding, counting airing, drying and ripening proper
Rind
Surface mould flora, ivory, white or blue
Size
Small disc 4.2–5 cm across and 1.9–2.4 cm high; at least 30 g when aged longer
Composition
At least 40 g fat per 100 g dry matter; dry matter at least 40 g per 100 g

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk. The specification sets whey acidity at pH 4.2–4.6 at the end of curdling, forbids freezing at any stage, and requires storage at 2 °C or above after ripening.

History and sources

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

Goats spread in the drier parts of the Pilat from the 18th century. Farms ate their cow cheese and sold the more valuable goat cheese in nearby Lyon and Saint-Étienne, which suited a small cheese that dried and ripened fast. The cheese has a reputation of more than a century.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [cdc-2022] INAO, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine « Rigotte de Condrieu », homologated by arrêté of 21 March 2022 (JORF 29 March 2022), Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'agriculture n°2022-16spec
  2. [eu-am02] European Commission, publication of an approved minor amendment, 'Rigotte de Condrieu', PDO-FR-0782-AM02, Ref. Ares(2022)5806726, 18 August 2022 (eAmbrosia)spec
  3. [eu-sd2013] European Commission 2013, Publication of an application, Single Document 'Rigotte de Condrieu' (FR-PDO-0005-0782-07.07.2009), Official Journal of the European Union C 130, 7.5.2013, p. 15spec