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Cheese from France

Artisou (Velay mite-ripened farmhouse cheese)artisou

A cow-milk farmhouse tomme from Haute-Loire that ripens in warm, damp cellars where cheese mites, the artisous, live on the rind. Genetic and chemical studies of the mites at an Artisou farm found Tyrolichus casei, whose secretions give the rind a lemony note. No published source gives its make or ripening numbers.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Artisou itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Mimolette (extra-vieille), the closest documented cheese ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Artisou.

Short entryCheese

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedFarmhouse cheese with no published recipe or amounts; the producers' association had not yet written a specification in 2018.
Cow milk[generationvoyage]
Cheese mites (artisous), living in the ripening cellar[shimano2022][connexion2017]
Starterother: cheese mites (artisous) on the rind

Total time across the steps of Mimolette (extra-vieille): 13 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriapH 6.4–6.8

What changes: Lactic cultures go into the pasteurised milk and start to sour it

Step 1 of 6 · steps of Mimolette (extra-vieille)
Ripen the milk with lactic cultures
Time
at least 2 h
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6.4–6.8
Set
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: ripened milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
white

Microbes at work in this step

mesophilic lactic bacteria start 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

A cow-milk farmhouse tomme from Haute-Loire that ripens in warm, damp cellars where cheese mites, the artisous, live on the rind. Genetic and chemical studies of the mites at an Artisou farm found Tyrolichus casei, whose secretions give the rind a lemony note. No published source gives its make or ripening numbers. Not named in any source read; the young tomme is soured by lactic acid bacteria as in other farmhouse tommes does most of the fermenting.

What makes this one different

The rind is worked by mites rather than by moulds or bacteria, as on Milbenkäse and Mimolette. The lemon-like note comes from neral in the mites' secretions and was not found in the cheese once the mites were removed.

Related ferments

History and sources

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

Producers asked the INAO for an AOP in 2017. A first meeting with INAO officials took place in November 2017, and in 2018 the association was still gathering the data for a specification.

  1. [shimano2022] Shimano S., Hiruta S.F., Shimizu N., Hagino W., Aoki J.I., OConnor B.M. 2022, Do 'cheese factory-specific' mites (Acari, Astigmata) exist in the cheese-ripening cabinet?, Experimental and Applied Acarology 87:49–65, doi:10.1007/s10493-022-00725-8 (abstract)paper
  2. [shimizu2022] Shimizu N., OConnor B.M., Hiruta S.F., Hagino W., Shimano S. 2022, Mite secretions from three traditional mite-ripened cheese types, are ripened French cheeses flavored by the mites (Acari, Astigmata)?, Experimental and Applied Acarology 87:309–323, doi:10.1007/s10493-022-00734-7 (abstract)paper
  3. [reussir] Marion S. 2018, Le fromage fermier 'l'Artisou de Haute-Loire' sur la longue route vers l'AOP, Réussir Agriculture Massif Central, 16 May 2018 (news)web
  4. [connexion2017] The Connexion, Creepy-crawlie cheese in AOP bid, 17 February 2017 (news)web
  5. [generationvoyage] Generation Voyage, Les 5 fromages moins connus d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes à découvrir (travel page)web