A small soft goat cheese of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, wrapped in dried brown chestnut leaves tied with raffia, traditionally soaked in Marc de Provence. The leaves trap moisture and impart a distinctive vegetal, slightly blue-cheese flavor as the cheese ages. Known since the thirteenth century; AOC granted in 2003 — the first AOC of the region.
Banon is a small soft goat cheese from the area around Banon in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Wikipedia documents the cheese as known since the thirteenth century and records its AOC status as granted in 2003 — the first AOC of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region. The defining feature is the wrapping in dried brown chestnut leaves, often soaked in Marc de Provence, tied with raffia. The AOC permits raw goat milk or a blend of goat and cow.
A Banon is a small disc wrapped like a parcel in brown chestnut leaves tied with raffia. Unwrapped, the cheese is soft and creamy, with a distinctive flavor blending the goat's tang with a vegetal, earthy, almost blue-cheese note from the leaf.
Banon's character rests on the chestnut-leaf wrapping. The leaves do three things: physically hold the soft disc together, trap moisture so the cheese ripens into a gooey core rather than drying out, and impart tannins and a vegetal, earthy flavor as the leaf microflora develop. The Marc soak adds an alcoholic aromatic dimension.
Variations
Made from raw goat milk or a goat-cow blend; the chestnut-leaf wrapping and the Marc soak are the constants.
On the Palate
Where Banon sits in the French flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
6 steps · 35 min
- 115 min
Warm goat's milk and add lactic starter; let acidify.
- 215 min
Add a small amount of rennet and let the curd set gently.
- 330 min
Ladle the curd into small disc molds and drain naturally.
- 420 min
Demold, salt the surfaces, and age briefly for one to two weeks.
Watch outAge the bare disc only a week or two before wrapping — over-dry it now and the leaves can't ripen it back to a gooey core.
- 515 min
Soak dried chestnut leaves in Marc de Provence; wrap each disc and tie with raffia.
Watch outSoak the chestnut leaves in Marc, then wrap each disc snug and tie — the leaves trap the moisture that ripens it gooey and lend their earthy tannin; a loose wrap dries it out.
- 65 min
Age further in the leaves, or release at once.
