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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, Provence: the dry limestone hills of the Bouches-du-Rhône, the far south of the Vaucluse and the west of the Var

Brousse du Rove PDOBrousse du Rove

Brousse du Rove is a fresh goat cheese set by heat and acid, not by rennet or bacteria, so it sits at the edge of the fermented foods. Whole raw milk of Rove goats is heated over an open flame to 85–95 °C, and white spirit vinegar stirred in as it cools makes the milk solids float up as flakes. The flakes are scooped by hand into small perforated cones and sold in them within eight days. Made in 5 steps over 8 days. The longest step, sell fresh in the cone, takes up to 8 days (Ministère de l'agriculture 2020).

Key numbers
Main stepup to 8 daysSet[bo-brousse2020]Sell fresh in the cone
Temperature85–95 °CSet[bo-brousse2020]Heat over an open flame

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe. Each cone holds 45–55 g of cheese after moulding.
Whole raw goat milk · Only from Rove goats; from one or two successive milkings, used at once on the farm; only filtered beforehand[bo-brousse2020]
At most 1% of the milkWhite spirit vinegar · The only acid allowed[bo-brousse2020]
Nothing else · No other ingredient, processing aid or additive is allowed[bo-brousse2020]
Starternone (curd formed by heat and vinegar)

Total time across the recorded steps: 8 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: whole raw milk from horned Rove goats

Step 1 of 5
Milk the Rove goats
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Rove goats keep their long horns and browse kermes oak, Aleppo pine and garrigue. Milk from one or two milkings is used straight away; making stops in December.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

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

What makes this one different

Whey cheeses such as brocciu and anari are made by heating whey. Brousse du Rove heats whole raw milk of the Rove goat only, over an open flame, sets it with white spirit vinegar, and is sold in its own perforated cone within eight days.

Size
45–55 g after moulding; at most 30 g dry matter per 100 g; fat in dry matter at least 45%
Boundary
Set by acid and heat; there is no microbial fermentation step

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is heated to 85–95 °C before the curd forms, and the specification limits sale to 8 days after acidification. Keep it cold and eat it fresh.

History and sources

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

Rove goat keeping and brousse making are recorded in the Bouches-du-Rhône since the Middle Ages. Brousse was the main income of the village of Le Rove and was prized in Marseille, and production has always stayed on farms. It became an AOC in 2018 and an EU PDO in 2020.

  1. [bo-brousse2020] Ministère de l'agriculture, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine protégée « Brousse du Rove », consolidated version registered by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/708 (BO-Agri notice 2020-24)spec
  2. [bo-brousse2018] INAO, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine « Brousse du Rove », homologated by the arrêté of 31 May 2018 (BO-Agri no. 24-2018)spec