Fourme de Montbrison

Infobox Cheese
name = Fourme de Montbrison


othernames =
country = France
regiontown = Montbrison
region =
town =
source = Cows
pasteurised = Yes ("coopérative"); no ("artisanal")
texture = Blue cheese
fat =
protein =
dimensions =
weight =
aging = 4-8 weeks
certification = French AOC 1972"'

Fourme de Montbrison is a cows-milk cheese made in the regions of Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne in southern France. It derives its name from the village of Montbrison in the Loire "departement".

The word "fourme" is derived from the Latin word "forma" meaning "shape", the same root as the French word "fromage" is believed to have derived from. [cite book | last = Masui | first = Kazuko
coauthors = Tomoko Yamada
title = French Cheeses
publisher = Dorling Kindersley
date = 1996 | pages = p. 134
isbn = 0-7513-0896-X ]

The cheese is manufactured in tall cylindrical blocks weighing between 1.5 and 2 kilograms. The blocks are 13 centimetres in diameter and 19 centimetres tall, although the cheese is most frequently sold in shops in much shorter cylindrical slices.

Fourme de Montbrison has a characteristic orange-brown rind with a creamy-coloured pâte, speckled with gentle streaks of blue mould. Its Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée status was granted in 1972 under a joint decree with Fourme d'Ambert, a similar blue cheese also from the same region. In 2002 the two cheeses received AOC status in their own right, recognizing the differences in their manufacture. [cite web|url=http://www.fourme-ambert.com/htm/aoc.htm|title=AOC|publisher=Fourme d'Ambert et de Montbrison]

With a musty scent, the cheese is extremely mild for a blue cheese and has a dry taste.

Manufacture

The curd is salted and placed into a mould before being removed and placed on racks made from spruce wood. The cheese is then turned by hand, ninety degrees at a time, over a period of twelve hours. The cheese is injected with "penicillium roqueforti" spores, and later injected with air to form pockets in the pâte to encourage spore development.

The cheese must be aged for at least 28 days, though more often it is left for around 8 weeks. Around 20-25 litres of milk are used to make each cheese. By regulation the cheese may only be manufactured in any of 33 "communes" of the Monts du Forez in the departements of
Puy-de-Dôme and Loire. [cite web|url=http://www.inao.gouv.fr/public/produits/showTexte.php?ID_TEXTE_CONSOLIDE=376|title=AOC Fourme de Montbrison|publisher=INAO]

The finished cheese is a minimum of 50% fat, and although the majority of production uses pasteurized milk, the growing "artisanal" manufacturers are using unpasteurized milk. The total production in 2005 was 495 tons. [cite web|url=http://www.maison-du-lait.com/Prodlait/AOC/Fourme_Montbrison.html|title=La Fourme de Montbrison|publisher=maison-du-lait.com]

References

See also

*Fourme d'Ambert
*Bleu de Montbrison
*Bleu de Gex

External links

* [http://www.fourme-montbrison.com/ Official site of Fourme de Montbrison AOC] (in French)