Saint Nectaire AOP (~1.5kg) (Cow) - Les Freres Marchand

Area: Auvergne, France
Milk: raw cow’s milk
Type: uncooked pressed cheese
Weight: 1,5 kg
Fat : 27 %

Artisanal maturing time: 28 days

Tasting advice
Saint Nectaire is widely used in regional culinary preparations. Its rustic flavor, which lets out hazelnut smells, allows it to go along with all meals, especially in a shape of a pie, or brioche.
Wine-pairing
Saint Nectaire allows the most beautiful collaboration of a cheese with red wines. It matches perfectly with a Saint-Pourcin or a Côtes-d'Auvergne wine.

Appearance: thin rind covered with white, yellow or red flowers.
Texture: thin and creamy texture which bends under the finger.
Sense of smell: light smell of mushrooms.
Taste: hazelnut flavor.

History
Introduced to the Court of King Louis XIV by the French Marshall Henri de La Ferté-Sennecterre (1600-1681), Saint Nectaire was appreciated by Sun King. Its reputation is done when Legrand d’Aussy wrote in 1768, in his travel tale in Auvergne: «If we want you to enjoy, it is always Saint Nectaire that we offer you ».
Farmer cheese is still made today and usually by women. Saint Nectaire was called until XVIIth century « rye cheese » because it was refined on straw.
Saint Nectaire was made on a volcanic area, counting many streams and an average altitude of 1000 meters where grows an abundant and varied flora, dotted with aromatic plants. That is the one which gives the milk, and consequently the cheese, its inimitable land perfume.

Fabrication
Eric counts about 15 liters of milk to obtain a Saint Nectaire. Cheese is made twice a day, right after milking, principally from Salers cows.
The curdle, obtained from hot milk with rennet, is broken, placed in mold and pressed. It is then salted and surrounded by a hessian, re-mold and pressed again. After drying, it is refined during at least 28 days in moist cellars.