Division Human factors

The production of ‘Fourme de Montbrison’ dates back to the early Middle Ages in the region of the Haut-Forez, where an agri-pastoral system was maintained until the Second World War. The cheese was produced in ‘jasseries’, mountain-pasture buildings which became established on both sides of the Forez mountains. At that time the cheese was produced during the summer season from the milk of modest-sized herds; the women made the cheese while the men remained in the village and continued the summer work in the fields. The natural environment therefore provided coniferous tree trunks which, once hollowed out, made gutters (called ‘chéneaux’) perfectly suited to draining the cheese during production. The cheese was often preserved until the summer descent, then sold at the markets on either side of the mountains, including the large market of Montbrison.

Nowadays the dairy cattle are reared largely on the permanent meadows. The production conditions for ‘Fourme de Montbrison’, particularly the mandatory grazing during the period when this is possible, the grass-based feed ration and the restricted use of maize silage make the best possible use of this natural resource.

Inherited from the ancestral techniques, the technological process of producing ‘Fourme de Montbrison’ makes optimum use of local know-how, bringing into play:

• appropriate mixing linked to a small curd grain size of approximately 0,5 to 1 cm at the side;

• salting in the mass and reduced exterior salting;

• the very special technique of additional draining in gutters made of coniferous wood.