Selles-sur-Cher cheese facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Selles-sur-Cher |
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| Country of origin | France |
| Region, town | Sologne |
| Source of milk | Goats |
| Pasteurised | No |
| Texture | Soft cheese with natural mould rind |
| Aging time | 10–30 days |
| Certification | French AOC 1975 |
| Named after | Lua error in Module:Wikidata at line 70: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
Selles-sur-Cher is a special French cheese. It is made from goat's milk. This cheese comes from the Centre-Val de Loire area in France. Its name comes from the town of Selles-sur-Cher. This is where the cheese was first made in the 1800s.
This cheese is sold in small, round shapes. Each one is about 8 centimeters wide at the bottom. It gets a bit narrower at the top. Each cheese is about 2 to 3 centimeters tall. It weighs around 150 grams. The inside of the cheese is firm at first. But it becomes soft and moist as it melts in your mouth. It tastes a little salty. The flavor stays with you for a while.
The outside of the cheese is dry. It has a grey-blue mold covering it. This mold has a unique, earthy smell. Many people eat the mold too. It has a much stronger flavor than the cheese itself.
How Selles-sur-Cher Cheese Is Made
To make one 150-gram cheese, about 1.3 liters of milk are used. This milk is not pasteurized. First, the milk is made sour using a special process called fermentation. Then, it is gently heated to about 20 degrees Celsius.
A small amount of rennet is added to the milk. Rennet helps the milk thicken. It is left for 24 hours. Unlike many other cheeses, the thick milk, called curd, is put directly into molds. These molds have tiny holes. This allows the liquid part, called whey, to drain out naturally.
The cheese is then kept in a cool, airy room. This room has about 80% humidity. This is drier than a typical cheese cellar. The cheese stays there for 10 to 30 days. During this time, it dries out. The special mold grows on its outside. A first layer of charcoal is put on the cheese. This helps the unique mold grow.
Types of Production
Selles-sur-Cher cheese is made in a few ways. Some is made on farms (fermier). Some is made by groups of farmers (coopérative). And some is made in larger factories (industriel). In 2005, about 747 tons of this cheese were made.
Factory-made cheese is available all year. But the cheese tastes best from spring to autumn. This cheese got a special status in 1975. It is called AOC. This means it must be made in certain areas. These areas are in the Cher, Indre, and Loir-et-Cher regions of France.
See also
In Spanish: Selles-sur-Cher (queso) para niños
