The Saint-Nectaire cheese: Introduction
The Saint-Nectaire cheese represents the terrain of Auvergne. Its name comes from that of the county town of Puy-de-Dôme where the cheese was commercialised. The Saint-Nectaire cheese is in the shape of a flat disc with a diameter of 20cm, a thickness of 4cm and a weight of 1.5kg. It is matured for at least 6 weeks in a humid cheese cellar where it is put on a bed of rye straw and has its rind is scraped. Be aware that the Appellation d’Origine is also given to products that are industrially produced by dairies or co-operative cheese dairies, not just those cheeses which are farm produced. It is only the marking on the Saint-Nectaire that differs. The farm produced cheeses are covered with an elliptical badge (72mm at the largest diameter, 38mm at the smallest) imprinted with black, 8mm tall lettering the following message; “Farm produced Saint-Nectaire.” (“Saint-Nectaire fermier” in French) Also, printed in the middle of the badge, on the largest diameter, is the registration number of the artisan producer.
Exterior appearance of the Saint-Nectaire cheese : greyish rind with pigments of yellow and red mould.
Odour of the Saint-Nectaire cheese: the aroma of mould is the most pronounced odour
Texture of the Saint-Nectaire cheese: smooth without being soft
Taste of the Saint-Nectaire cheese: pronounced flavour of the terrain from which it is produced.
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