Banon
Name of Group of Producers
Syndicat Interprofessionnel de Défense et de Promotion du Banon
MRE – Route de la Durance
F – 04100 Manosque
Tel.: (33-4) 92 87 47 55
Fax: (33-4) 92 72 73 13
Email:
frecapvincent@wanadoo.fr
I.N.A.O.
51 rue d'Anjou -
F - 75008 Paris
Tel: (33-1) 53 89 80 00 - Fax: (33-1) 42 25 57 97
- E-mail: info@inao.gouv.fr
D.G.C.C.R.F.
59 Bd V. Auriol - F - 75703 Paris Cedex 13
Banon is a soft cheese manufactured from raw, full-fat goat's milk. It is produced through rapid coagulation (using rennet). The ripening cheese is entirely wrapped in brown chestnut leaves and tied up with six to twelve strands of natural raffia forming a radial pattern. After ripening for a minimum of fifteen days, ten of which in its leaf wrapping, Banon is smooth, creamy, velvety and soft. The rind is a creamy-yellow colour under the leaves. With the leaves, the cheese is 75 to 85 mm in diameter and 20 to 30 mm in height. The net weight without leaves after the maturing period is 90 to 110 grams. The cheese contains at least 40 grams of dry matter per 100 grams of cheese and 40 grams of fats per 100 grams of cheese when it is completely dried out.
The milk is produced, and the cheese is manufactured and ripened in the geographical area comprising the following municipalities:
Département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Département des Hautes-Alpes
Département du Vaucluse
Département de la Drôme
The milk used to produce Banon must come exclusively from goats from the landrace breeds Provençale, Rove and Alpine and from crosses of those breeds. Moreover, the average yield per herd is restricted to 850 kg of milk per lactating goat per year.
The goats feed essentially by grazing on pasture or rough grazing. As soon as the weather and vegetation permit, the goats are put out to graze in these areas. They must graze for at least 210 days per year and pasture must constitute most of their forage for at least four months of the year.
On the farm, the forage area actually reserved for the herd must be equal to at least 1 ha of grassland for every 8 goats and 1 ha of rough grazing for every 2 goats. The input of feed (dry fodder and supplements) supplied in the trough is limited on an annual and daily basis, and purchases of fodder from outside the area are also similarly restricted. The milk must be collected from the farm every day, and stored at a temperature of 8 °C prior to collection.
It is used in its raw, whole state, without adjustment of protein and fat content. All physical or chemical processing is prohibited, apart from filtering in order to eliminate macroscopic impurities, cooling to an above-zero temperature for preservation purposes and heating of the milk to a maximum of 35 °C before renneting. Except for the addition of rennet, lactic cultures, ripening cultures or salt (sodium chloride), no substance may be added to or removed from the milk. The milk is renneted at a temperature of between 29 °C and 35 °C. In the case of farmhouse cheeses, renneting is carried out no more than 18 hours after the oldest batch of milk is drawn. In the case of industrially-produced cheeses, it is carried out no more than 4 hours after the milk collected is last drawn. Coagulation occurs no more than 2 hours after renneting. The curds are moulded into cheese-sieves by hand. The cheese is turned over at least twice during the first 12 hours. Draining is carried out at a temperature of at least 20 °C. The cheese is turned out between 24 and 48 hours after moulding. It is then salted. Ripening takes place in two stages: first, the cheese is ripened for 5 to 10 days at a temperature of at least 8oC before wrapping in chestnut leaves, then it is ripened for at least 10 days at a temperature of between 8 and 14 °C after wrapping. The humidity level must be above 80 %. The cheeses may be soaked in eau-de-vie made from wine or from grape marc before being placed in chestnut leaves. This two-fold ripening process, which lasts for at least 15 days after renneting, allows the aromatic properties of the cheese to develop.
