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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, Drôme and Ardèche, with the cantons of Valréas

Picodon PDOPicodon

Whole raw goat milk gets a little rennet at 20–25 °C and sets mainly by lactic souring over 16–36 hours. The curd is ladled into small moulds, dry-salted, dried for a day and ripened at least 12 days from renneting. A washed form, "affiné méthode Dieulefit", is confined cold until it turns blue, then washed and ripened for at least 30 days. Made in 6 steps over 42 days – 43 days. The longest step, confine and wash (méthode Dieulefit), takes at least 30 days (Ministère de l'agriculture 2017) and runs at 5–10 °C (Ministère de l'agriculture 2017). Lactic bacteria of the raw milk, or of the lactic starter or back-slopped whey does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 30 daysSet[picodon-cdc-2017]Confine and wash (méthode Dieulefit)
Temperature5–10 °CSet[picodon-cdc-2017]Confine and wash (méthode Dieulefit)
AciditypH 4–4.5Set[picodon-cdc-2017]Let the curd set by souring

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe rules fix temperatures, times and mould sizes but no amounts. One finished cheese is a small disc 5–7 cm across weighing at least 60 g (washed types at least 45 g).
Raw whole goat milk · From Alpine, Saanen, Massif-Central, Provençale or Rove goats or their crosses[picodon-cdc-2017]
Rennet · A small amount; the only coagulant allowed[picodon-cdc-2017]
Lactic starter or whey from an earlier curd · Optional; harmless cultures of bacteria, yeasts and moulds are allowed[picodon-cdc-2017]
Dry salt, fine or medium · On both faces, by the time the cheese leaves the mould[picodon-cdc-2017]
Calcium chloride[picodon-cdc-2017]
Starter: lactic starter or whey from the previous curd (optional)

Total time across the recorded steps: 42 days – 43 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
20–25 °Cshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: A small dose of rennet and some whey go into raw goat milk at 20–25 °C

Step 1 of 6
Rennet the milk
Time
up to 18 h
Set
Temperature
20–25 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Moulds

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

Picodon is a small lactic goat disc like Pélardon and Rocamadour. It is set warmer for a shorter time than Selles-sur-Cher, dried for a day before ripening, and has a washed form (méthode Dieulefit) that is first confined cold until it blues, then washed at least twice.

Milk
Raw whole goat milk, not standardised or homogenised; fodder and raw cereals from the area
Ripening
At least 12 days from renneting; washed types at least 30 days
Composition
At least 45 g fat per 100 g dry matter; at least 40 g dry matter per 100 g cheese
Size
5–7 cm across, 1.8–2.5 cm high, at least 60 g; washed types 4.5–6 cm, at least 45 g

Related ferments

Variants

  • Picodon affiné méthode DieulefitDried naturally, confined at 5–10 °C until blue, then ripened over 8 days at 13–17 °C in saturated air with at least two washes; sold after 30 days.
  • Picodon affiné lavéSame confinement and washing without the Dieulefit drying rule; sold after 30 days.

Safety

Made only from raw milk, set to pH 4–4.5. The rules ban freezing the milk, curd or fresh cheese and require at least 12 days of ripening (30 days for washed types).

History and sources

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

Olivier de Serres described goats in the Bas Vivarais around 1600, and in 1866 the Drôme and Ardèche ranked first and third for goats in France. Surplus summer cheeses were kept in clay jars and washed every two weeks, the root of the washed method. The AOC dates from 25 July 1983.

  1. [picodon-cdc-2017] Ministère de l'agriculture 2017, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine protégée « Picodon », version approved by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/908, BO-Agri n° 2017-38spec
  2. [leclercq2019] Leclercq-Perlat M.N. et al. 2019, Physicochemical and sensory evolutions of the lactic goat cheese Picodon in relation to temperature and relative humidity used throughout ripening, Journal of Dairy Science 102(6):5713–5725 (abstract)paper