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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, Centre-Val de Loire

Selles-sur-Cher PDOSelles-sur-Cher

Whole raw goat milk gets a little rennet and curdles mainly by lactic souring for 18–48 hours below 25 °C. The curd is ladled by hand into tapered moulds, turned out, then salted and dusted with vegetable charcoal. The discs ripen at least 10 days at 10 °C or warmer, under a grey rind of Geotrichum and yeasts. Made in 5 steps over 14 days – 16 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 10 days (Ministère de l'agriculture 2014) and runs at at least 10 °C (Ministère de l'agriculture 2014). Lactic flora of the raw goat milk, which seeds the milk straight after milking does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 10 daysSet[selles-cdc-2014]Ripen
Temperatureat least 10 °CSet[selles-cdc-2014]Ripen

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe rules fix times, temperatures and the mould size but no amounts. One cheese is a disc about 9 cm across and 3 cm thick, with at least 55 g of dry matter.
Raw whole goat milk · From Alpine or Saanen goats or their crosses; stored on the farm at most 2 days[selles-cdc-2014]
Rennet · A small amount; the only coagulant allowed[selles-cdc-2014]
Cultures of bacteria, yeasts and moulds · Commercial cultures or cultures grown from the milk's own flora (whey); pure single-strain starters are banned[selles-cdc-2014]
Salt and vegetable charcoal · On the surface only, usually as one salt-and-charcoal mix[selles-cdc-2014]
Calcium chloride[selles-cdc-2014]
Starter: raw-milk flora; whey or commercial cultures allowed, pure single strains banned

Total time across the recorded steps: 14 days – 16 days

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

Step 1 of 5
Add a little rennet to the raw milk
Time
up to 2 days
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Geotrichum
Yeasts
Penicillium spots

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

Selles-sur-Cher is a lactic goat cheese like Valençay and Sainte-Maure, but shaped as a flat bevelled disc. It is salted on the surface with a salt-and-charcoal mix, and part of the curd may be frozen and added back outside the April–July season (up to 50 %).

Milk
Raw whole goat milk from Alpine or Saanen goats; at least 75 % of the feed from the area
Ripening
At least 10 days from renneting, at 10 °C or warmer
Composition
At least 45 g fat per 100 g dry matter; at least 55 g dry matter per cheese
Size
Disc with bevelled edges, about 9 cm across and 3 cm thick

Related ferments

Variants

  • Selles-sur-Cher fermierMade on the farm from raw milk used within 24 hours of the first milking, with no frozen curd.

Safety

Made only from raw milk. Milk is kept on the farm no more than 2 days, and the rules require at least 10 days of ripening.

History and sources

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

Selles-sur-Cher began as a farm cheese for the household; ash helped it keep. In the 19th century poultry collectors (coquetiers) gathered the cheeses and some ripened and ashed them; the railway station at Selles-sur-Cher made it the trading centre and gave the name. It became an appellation in 1975.

  1. [selles-cdc-2014] Ministère de l'agriculture 2014, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine « Selles-sur-Cher », avis AGRT1413735V, Bulletin officiel n° 27-2014 (version in force with Implementing Regulation (EU) No 130/2014)spec
  2. [selles-eu-1996] INAO, Selles-sur-Cher registration file (summary and 1986 decree) under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, eAmbrosiaspec