Rocamadour PDO

Rocamadour is a mouthful of heaven - rich, creamy and decadent with a velvety texture and fantastic depth of flavour. It has a sweet nuttiness and milky flavour.
Raw Goat's Milk
Matured for 12 to 15 days initially and then for up to one month more
Traditional Rennet
£2.25

The History, Dairy & Farm, Animals & Maker

Rocamadour cheese is named after the stunning and iconic village of the same name, in the Lot region of France. Rocamadour is built into the rock and cliffs of a gorge and has long been a sacred pilgrimage site.

Rocamadour cheese has a history dating back as far as 1451 when the church accepted cheese as payment for taxes from local farmers and villagers. Goats were introduced to the area during the Arab invasion and their cheese quickly gained monetary value, with tenant farmers and landlords using these tiny cheeses as a trading currency.

Rocamadour belongs to the Cabecou family of cheeses (the Occitan term for small goat’s cheese), which has been protected since 1996, and must be made with the raw milk of Alpine or Saanen goats milk. The PDO also specifies that it be made in Aveyron, Corrèze, Dordogne, Lot or Tarn-et-Garonne.

The local terrain of moorlands, woods and shrubs is ideal for goats and they enjoy eating the local hawthorn, juniper and mulberry trees, as well as the grasses and other shrubs on the arid Causses plateau.

Sustainability

The goats are outdoor reared and the cheese is made close to the moorlands on which the goats graze, so there are very few food miles involved in production and the feeding of the animals.