Banon AOP – One of Provence’s Greatest Goat’s Milk Cheeses.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

   
Banon Cheese packed in chestnut leaves
www.flickr.com/photos/alpesdehauteprovence-tourisme/8679356331/

The Banon Cheese

Banon is a soft, mild, tasty, 45% fat, goat’s milk cheese made with unpasteurized milk. The cheeses are small, round, and  6 -7 cm ( 2.75”)  in diameter, with each cheese weighing approximately 100 grams (3.5 oz). The cheese matures for at least 20 days and when the young cheeses are considered ready they are dipped in a local eau-de-vie and wrapped in their traditional coating of chestnut leaves; only then may they be sold.  The chestnut leaves from Provence’s abundant chestnut forests are applied by hand. For information on buying cheese in France and bringing it home see the post: Buying Cheese in France and Bringing French Cheese Home.
   
The village of Banon
 
The village of Banon is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and young Banon cheeses may be served warm in a salad, as an entrée, the French first course, with a more mature cheese being part of a cheese plate or on the cheese trolley. In the area try the cheese with the enjoyable, and affordable, Alpes de Haute-Provence IGP wines, especially their rosé or try the slightly more expensive AOP wines from the Coteaux de Pierrevert appellation which has rosés, reds and whites, You may also enjoy Banon with a glass of the sparkling rosé Crémant de Provence, or the albeit expensive, but, very sweet and famous dessert wine, the Muscat de Beaume de Venise, produced just 74 km (46 miles) away.
   
The village of Banon
  
The Banon cheese has one of the smallest annual productions of any French cheese, even though it is produced over a wide area in farms and dairies including departments outside the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.  Altogether all these farm and dairies only produce 70 tons of this cheese every year.
        
       
The origin of the Banon cheese is sometimes disputed; however, no one disputes that it has been made under its present name in and around the village of Banon for at least five hundred years.  Despite that minimum of 500 years, I was told that the cheese is close to 1,000 (years-old), and was created in another village called Puimichel which is some 50 km (31 miles) away.  I checked the story of the Puimichel origins on the Banon AOC website, and they ignore that claim; however, they do provide a tongue in cheek claim that the cheese dates back  2,000 years to the Roman Emperor Antonius (86 -161 CE), who “ate so much that he died.”

Banon and the communes around the village produce many other cheeses.  If you visit the area on the third Sunday in May you will be in time for Banon’s annual cheese celebration their Fête du Fromage; then you may taste them all.  Check next year’s dates on the fete’s website, which is in French but is easily understood using the Bing of Google translation apps:
  
The village of Puimichel and Telescopes.

The village of Puimichel that some claim to be the source of the recipe for the Banon cheese is 637 meters above sea level, and home to a 1060mm Newton telescope built by the renowned Dany Cardoen.  This one of the world’s largest amateur telescopes.

Puimichel and Perfumes.

Whether you visit Puimichel to check out the cheese story or to look at or through the telescope, then, apart from people walking around staring at the stars, during the lavender flowering season, you will be made aware of the village’s small factories that produce perfumes from the local flora. The fragrance of flowers and perfumes fill the streets at the height of the season, which is July and August.

Puimochel and Pétanque
 

Also, while many French villages have annual festivals in the third week of September, Puimichel has a weeklong pétanque, boules, tournament, if you choose to join in or learn pétanque make a note.  You may also write ahead and hire the telescope for a night or two.
      
                     Traveling from Puimichel to Banon

If you are traveling from Puimichel to Banon, halfway between them is the small town of Forcalquier; here, you will find a pastis distillery where for a small contribution to the local economy, you may try an authentic Provencal anise based pastis. Depending on the season, and how much you drank, you may continue your journey onwards through the town’s Route de la Lavande.

The Lavender Road.

 Their lavender road supplies much of Provence’s AOP Huile Essentielle de Lavande, the Essential Lavender Oil. Many of the streets outside Banon, Forcalquier, and Puimichel run alongside lavender fields; the flowers color the countryside from the beginning of July until the end of the season, in Mid or end August. The fields are intermingled with olive trees that supply the AOP olive oil from Haute-Provence.

An Authentic Provencal Anise Based Pastis

If you are traveling from Puimichel to Banon, halfway between them is the small town of Forcalquier; here, you will find a pastis distillery, and for a small contribution to the local economy, you may try an authentic Provencal anise based pastis. Depending on the season, and how much you drank, you may then continue your journey, once again through the town’s Route de la Lavande.  The fields are intermingled with olive trees that supply the AOP olive oil from Haute-Provence
     
PPears confites with lavender honey.
www.flickr.com/photos/alpesdehauteprovence-tourisme/8679352467/



Stop off for a Natural Thermal Bath
The Romans also used these thermal springs
And the locals still ask whatever did the Roman do for us?
   
After those visits, for a change in pace, just 30 km (18.6 miles) from the turnoff on the E712 for Banon, in the direction of Marseilles is the village of Gréoux-les-Bains. Gréoux-les-Bains offers thermal baths for those seeking a cure or just a pleasant way to spend a day.  The Romans originally used these baths, though I am sure they wouldn’t recognize the facilities today as the area now includes quite a number of highly-rated hotels and restaurants, alongside upscale baths.
   
The thermal baths of Gréoux-les-Bains.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2013, 2019
 
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