Cantal AOP: The Oldest Cheese in France
About this episode
This episode introduces Cantal cheese, exploring its rich history and production in the Massif Central region of France.
Cantal — the ancient pressed cow's milk cheese of the Massif Central and one of the oldest cheeses in the world — has a history that stretches back further than almost anything else in French food culture. Today's Food Tour de France episode starts in Aurillac — the capital of the Cantal department, right in the heart of the volcanic Auvergne — and tells the story of a cheese that Pliny the Elder was writing about in his Historia Naturalis in the first century AD, that officially bears its name since 1298, and that received its AOC in 1956. A full-size wheel weighs between 35 and 45 kilograms and requires 400 litres of milk to produce. It comes in three ages — young, between, and old — that are genuinely different cheeses in character. And it has been made in the same landscape, from the milk of cows grazing on the same volcanic pastures, for two thousand years. Before we go any further — I want to say that I have done a full dedicated episode on Cantal with the wonderful Jennifer Greco, who knows more about this cheese than almost anyone. Go and find that episode in the catalogue. Today is the introduction. She delivers the complete picture. The episode covers the essential…
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