Division (b) The history of ‘Banon’

The history of ‘Banon’ starts at the end of the 19th century. Working on land that had little agronomic potential, local farmers tried to use the area’s meagre natural resources to best advantage: they engaged in subsistence mixed farming on a few parcels of good land and collected wood, hunted for game and picked mushrooms, small fruit, truffles and lavender in the less cultivated areas of the forest or heath. In addition to having a pig and a small poultry yard, each family also raised a small domestic herd composed of ewes but also of a few goats. These are complementary animals both on the land, where they make the most of the heath and surrounding undergrowth, and in terms of their economic usefulness. Sheep were used for meat, while the purpose of the goat as the ‘poor man’s cow’ was to produce milk. The milk was consumed by the family but was also processed into cheese, which was the only way of preserving its nutritive value for a longer period of time.

The cheese was intended mainly for home consumption and any commercial value came from production above and beyond the needs of the family. Surplus cheeses then started to be sold at local markets.

It was precisely Banon, the administrative centre of the canton and the geographical centre of the Lure and Albion regions, a crossroads between major communication routes, that was the most important venue for cheese fairs and markets.

The first reference to wrapped tommes of goat’s cheese with the name ‘Banon’ can be found in the book ‘Cuisinière provençale’ written by Marius MORARD in 1886.

The post-war period saw the gradual introduction of new cheesemaking techniques. Goat herds became specialised and cheesemaking expanded beyond the home: while the cheese had formerly been produced first and foremost for the family’s needs and secondarily for sale, now it began to be produced above all for sale, with any surpluses being consumed by the family.