Recipes for Fourme d’Ambert date back to at least the ninth century, making it one of France’s oldest cheeses. It was apparently first made by mountain dwellers in the lush volcanic region of Auvergne and continues to be made from the milk of cow's who live on the same mountain pastures today. It has a distinctive cylindrical shape and is so iconic and renowned that you can even find a Fourme d’Ambert carved in stone at La Chaume which dates back to the 9th Century.
Fourme d’Ambert is a PDO cheese and can only be made with cow’s milk in Puy-de-Dôme and parts of Cantal and the Loire.
The word ‘Fourme’ comes from the Latin ‘forma’, meaning form or shape. The word ‘fromage’ is also derived from ‘forma’ because of the moulds cheeses are formed in. Forma eventually changed into ‘formage’ in the 13th Century before becoming ‘fromage’ in the 15th Century. The cheese name is inspired by the two.
The cows are outdoor reared on the mountains, and the cheese is made nearby, so there are very few food miles involved in production.
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