Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, Massif Central

Cabécoucabecóu

The Occitan name for the tiny raw goat-milk discs of the Lot and its neighbours. Lightly renneted milk curdles slowly over at least 20 hours, is pre-drained, salted in the mass and moulded into discs of about 35–40 g that ripen for about a week or more. Rocamadour, once called Cabécou de Rocamadour, is the protected form, and its rules give the numbers below. Made in 5 steps over 7.3 days. The longest step, dry and ripen, takes at least 6 days (Ministère de l'agriculture 2015) and runs at at least 10 °C (Ministère de l'agriculture 2015). Salt is 0.6–0.8 % (Ministère de l'agriculture 2015). Lactic bacteria from added cultures or the raw milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 6 daysSet[rocamadour-cdc-2015]Dry and ripen
Temperatureat least 10 °CSet[rocamadour-cdc-2015]Dry and ripen
Salt0.6–0.8 %Set[rocamadour-cdc-2015]Salt in the mass and mould
Fully documentedCheese7.3 daysnone; Cabécou du Périgord collective mark since 1992 (Rocamadour is the AOP member of the group)Family: Lactic soft-ripened cheese family (goat/sheep/cow lactic curd)More lactic soft-ripened cheesesMore from France

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are from the Rocamadour rules, the protected cabécou; farm cabécou elsewhere has no fixed recipe. One cheese weighs about 35 g (Rocamadour) to about 40 g (a 1953 description of cabécou).
Raw whole goat milk · Rocamadour rules; generic cabécou is usually raw milk too[rocamadour-cdc-2015][wp-fr]
At most 10 cm³ of rennet extract (520 mg chymosin per litre) per 100 litres of milkAnimal rennet · Rocamadour rules[rocamadour-cdc-2015]
Lactic cultures (harmless bacteria, yeasts and moulds allowed)[rocamadour-cdc-2015]
0.6–0.8 % of the curd weightSalt · Mixed into the curd; Rocamadour rules[rocamadour-cdc-2015]
Starterlactic cultures or the milk's own flora

Total time across the recorded steps: 7.3 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
18–23 °Cshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: A small dose of rennet goes into cool raw goat milk

Step 1 of 5
Add a little rennet to cool milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
18–23 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: lightly renneted milk.

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

Cabécou is the regional family name; Rocamadour is the one cabécou with protected rules. Cabécou made elsewhere in the region follows no fixed specification.

Milk
Goat milk, generally raw
Ripening
At least 6 days from unmoulding for Rocamadour
Size
About 35 g for Rocamadour; about 40 g in a 1953 description of cabécou
Composition
Rocamadour 45 % fat in dry matter, at least 14 g dry matter per cheese

Related ferments

Variants

  • RocamadourProtected (AOP) cabécou of the Lot causses, about 35 g, ripened at least 6 days.
  • Cabécou du PérigordCollective mark for cabécou from the Périgord.

Safety

Usually made from raw milk; the Rocamadour rules require at least 6 days of ripening and ban storing fresh cheeses frozen or under modified atmosphere.

History and sources

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

Small cheeses from the Causses are recorded in a 1451 lease that set a tithe in cheese at Carlucet. A 1953 book, "Fromages de France", describes cabécou of about 40 g, mostly farm-made, in the Lot and the neighbouring Aveyron, Cantal, Corrèze and Dordogne.

  1. [rocamadour-cdc-2015] Ministère de l'agriculture 2015, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine protégée « Rocamadour », consolidated version approved by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1594 (BO-Agri notice)spec
  2. [wp-fr] Wikipédia (fr), Cabécou (outline only)wiki