Picodon
A dry, spicy goats-milk cheese from the Rhône valley.
Picodon is a goat's milk cheese from southern France's Rhône region, its Occitan name meaning "spicy." Small, flat, and circular, it has a dry yet smooth interior and a rind that shifts from speckled white to golden.
Quick Facts
- Country
- France
- Source
- Goats
- Texture
- Soft/hard
- Aging
- 2-4 weeks
- Certification
- French AOC 1983
Facts from the source article.
Manufacture
The lower Rhône valley is mostly too dry for wine production but supports goats that feed on sparse grass and hardy bushes. Picodon is made from milk with a small quantity of rennet, poured into small moulds with tiny holes; lactic protein, frozen curd, and concentrated or powdered milk are prohibited. The cheese is twice salted with fine, dry salt and dried for at least fourteen days, though four weeks is more common. Cheeses labelled affinage méthode Dieulefit are hand-washed with water and matured in covered earthenware jars for at least a month. Production is fermier, artisanal, and industriel, occurring year-round, though fermier production is limited to spring and autumn. Manufacture primarily takes place in Ardèche and Drôme, with the canton of Barjac in Gard and Valréas in Vaucluse also permitted.
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