Laguiole, the cheese that is the pride of Aubrac

In the black silence of Aubrac, 1,000 meters fromaltitude on early morning marks the hour for milking cows. “Simmental cows, those authorized in the specifications to make Laguiole AOP cheese”, specifies Delphine Guérin, breeder in Laguiole (Aveyron). About fifty cows in total provide the milk. They feed on hay, harvested in the spring in the meadows of the plateau, then dried in the open air. “The filling we give them gives the taste and flavor to the local cheese”, explains Jérôme Guérin, breeder in Laguiole.

About a hundred breeders, attracted by the production of Laguiole cheese, came to settle on this Aubrac plateau. Every day of the year, the milk from Aubrac cows arrives in the vats of the “Jeune Montagne” cooperative, which revived production 60 years ago. In the 19th century, cheese was made in cabins with slate roofs. Today, the know-how has not changed. Raw milk, thanks to ferments, turns into milk quail. It is then necessary to extract all the whey, then fourmes, of 50 kg each, are placed in molds.