Chevrotin

The Chevrotin des Aravis: Introduction

The Chevrotin cheese is a pressed, uncooked, hard cheese, with a washed rind, covered completely or partially after ripening  with a fine white mould. The Chevrotin cheese can only come from a mix of the milk of one herd of goats. It can only be produced on a farmstead. The milk used in the production of the Chevrotin comes from herds consisting of a minimum of 80%  Alpine breed goats.  The geographical area of production  stretches along the massifs of Mont-Blanc, from the Chablais to the Aravisin Haute-Savoie, as well as on the massif of the Bauges in Savoie. Cylinder shaped, the cheese measures a diameter of 9 to 12cm and a length of 3 to 4.5cm, it weighs 250 to 350 grams, and contains  at least 45 grams of fat for 100 grams of cheese. Each cheese is individually packaged and contains a removable base made from a thin sheet of spruce.   The Chevrotin des Aravis cheese is also known under the name Chevrotin du Grand Bornand. Its name comes from the species of animal  which gives the milk.

The fabrication of the Chevrotin des Aravis cheese has co-existed since the 17th century, with that of the Reblochon farm. Originally the cheese was simply destined for consumption by the families who owned the goats, but then the rearing of the goats and the fabrication of the Chevrotin developed. The Chevrotin des Aravis is shaped in the form of a convex disk with flat sides (equivelant for that matter, to the shape of Reblochon). It is matured for 6 to 8 weeks in the humid cellar and is periodically washed.  

Exterior appearance of the Chevrotin cheese: thin, clean rind of pinkish colour.
Odour of the Chevrotin cheese: mild, caprine  odour, with a slight odour of the cellar.
Texture of the Chevrotin cheese: tender and elastic
Taste of the Chevrotin cheese: very aromatic (taste of alpine flowers)