Chabichou
A cylindrical goat cheese from Poitou with a creamy texture.
Chabichou, also known as Chabichou du Poitou, is a traditional semi-soft French goat cheese with a firm and creamy texture. It is formed in a cylindrical shape called a "bonde" and aged for 10 to 20 days. It is the only soft-ripened goat cheese under Protected Designation of Origin regulations that may be made with pasteurized milk.
Quick Facts
- Other names
- Chabichou du Poitou
- Country
- France
- Source
- Goats
- Texture
- Semi-soft
Facts from the source article.
History
Legend traces Chabichou to 732, after the Battle of Poitiers, when some Arabs settled in the area with their goat herds. The cheese was named cheblis, Arabic for "goat," which evolved into chabichou. Goat domestication in the region, however, is thought to date back to Roman colonization and continues to the present.
Le Chabichou du Poitou
Chabichou du Poitou is made exclusively in the north of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It gained AOC status in 1990 with help from Ségolène Royal. Mentioned in a French travel guide since 1782, its production rose during the phylloxera crisis of the late 1800s and again with cooperative dairies starting in 1906 in Bougon. The AOC zone covers south of Vienne, Deux-Sèvres, and north of Charente.
Manufacture
Chabichou du Poitou is made from fresh whole goat's milk, quickly but slightly pressurized to less than 100 microliters per liter. The milk coagulates for 24 hours at 20 to 22 °C. The curd is hand-ladled into perforated truncated molds and drained for 18 to 24 hours, turned two or three times at 22 °C. After unmolding, it is salted with dry salt or brine, then dried in rooms for 24 to 48 hours. Maturation follows in cellars at 10 to 12 °C with 80% to 90% humidity for at least 10 days, typically two to three weeks, sometimes longer for stronger flavor.
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