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Cheese from France, Haut-Poitou

Chabichou du Poitou PDO

Raw whole goat milk is seeded with whey or lactic cultures, matured, set with a little rennet at 25 °C or less and left to curdle for at least 16 hours until the curd reaches pH 4.6. The curd is ladled into perforated truncated-cone moulds, drained for at least 18 hours, salted and dried, then ripened at least 10 days while Geotrichum and moulds form a thin skin.

Fully documentedCheese13 daysPDO (EU, registered 1996; an amendment published in 2020)Family: Lactic soft-ripened cheese family (goat/sheep/cow lactic curd)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe; its only dose is rennet per 100 L of milk. A finished cheese weighs at least 140 g.
Raw whole goat milkStored on the farm no more than 48 hours in refrigerated tanks[chab-am2020]
Starter cultureFresh or frozen whey from the dairy, commercial lactic ferments or the group's own starters; bacteria, yeast and mould cultures are also allowed[chab-am2020][chab-cdc2018]
Rennet (520 mg chymosin per litre)At most 8 mL per 100 L of milk[chab-am2020]
Salt (applied to the surface, or in saturated brine)[chab-am2020][chab-sum1996]
Starterwhey from the dairy, commercial lactic ferments or the group's own starters

Total time across the recorded steps: 13 days

Start
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What changes: Raw goat milk waits in a chilled farm tank for up to two days

Step 1 of 9
Keep the raw milk cold on the farm
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The milk may stay no more than 48 hours in refrigerated tanks on the farm. It must be raw goat milk; heat treatment is not allowed.

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

At a glance

Raw whole goat milk is seeded with whey or lactic cultures, matured, set with a little rennet at 25 °C or less and left to curdle for at least 16 hours until the curd reaches pH 4.6. The curd is ladled into perforated truncated-cone moulds, drained for at least 18 hours, salted and dried, then ripened at least 10 days while Geotrichum and moulds form a thin skin. Made in 9 steps over 13 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 10 days (European Commission 2020) and runs at at least 8 °C (European Commission 2020).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 10 daysSet[chab-am2020]Ripen
Temperatureat least 8 °CSet[chab-am2020]Ripen
AciditypH up to 4.6Set[chab-am2020]Curdle slowly

What makes this one different

Its bonde shape comes from a fixed perforated mould that controls draining, and the specification sets a long lactic set of at least 16 hours at 25 °C or less with very little rennet.

Milk
Raw whole goat milk; at least 75% of the goats' yearly feed from the area and no silage
Ripening
At least 10 days after renneting
Size
Small truncated cone (bonde), at least 140 g; at least 18 g fat per 100 g and at least 40 g dry matter per cheese

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw. The specification limits farm storage to 48 hours in refrigerated tanks and requires a very acid curd (pH 4.6 or lower) before moulding.

History and sources

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

The 1996 summary records the name 'Chabichou' in a 1782 Poitiers travel guide; AOC status came in 1990. The French specification says the phylloxera crisis from 1876 turned local farmers from vines to livestock and that the goat herds of Deux-Sèvres and Vienne then grew. From the early twentieth century, it says, dairy cooperatives that had collected cow milk began to collect goat milk too.

  1. [chab-am2020] European Commission, Publication of an application for approval of non-minor amendments to the product specification, 'Chabichou du Poitou' PDO-FR-0115-AM01, with single document, Official Journal of the European Union C 251, 31.7.2020, p. 22spec
  2. [chab-register] European Commission, eAmbrosia register record for 'Chabichou du Poitou', PDO-FR-0115 (EU protection date 21 June 1996, Regulation (EC) No 1107/96, Official Journal L 148; later publications include Official Journal L 431, 21.12.2020)gov
  3. [chab-sum1996] INAO, Application for registration PDO (Art. 17), summary sheet 'Chabichou du Poitou', EU file FR/0115 (English summary in the eAmbrosia register)spec
  4. [chab-cdc2018] Ministère de l'agriculture, Cahier des charges de l'AOP « Chabichou du Poitou », homologated by arrêté of 7 November 2018, JORF of 14 November 2018 (BO-Agri 2018-46)spec