Fourme de Montbrison
A mild blue cheese from the Forez mountains.
Fourme de Montbrison is a cow's-milk cheese from the Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne regions of southern France, named after the town of Montbrison in the Loire department. It is a tall cylindrical blue cheese with an orange-brown rind and creamy pâte streaked with blue mould. Its name derives from the Latin word forma, meaning 'shape', the same root as the French word fromage.
Quick Facts
- Country
- France
- Source
- Cows
- Texture
- Blue cheese
- Aging
- 4-8 weeks
- Certification
- French AOC 1972, EU PDO 2010
Facts from the source article.
Manufacture
The curd is salted and placed into a mould, then removed and set on racks made from spruce wood. Over twelve hours the cheese is turned by hand, ninety degrees at a time. Penicillium roqueforti spores are injected into the cheese, followed by air to create pockets in the pâte that encourage spore development. Aging lasts at least 28 days, though often around 8 weeks. Each cheese requires 20 to 25 litres of milk. Production is limited to 33 communes of the Forez mountains in Puy-de-Dôme and Loire. Most production uses pasteurised milk, but artisanal makers increasingly use unpasteurized milk.
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