Cantal Jeune

Cantal is named after the Cantal mountains in Auvergne and is the only French cheese to be made like an English farmhouse cheddar. So it has a lot of cheddary character and is great to cook with. The flavour changes with age; a young Cantal is mild, nutty and milky while older cheeses develop a stronger tang.

Cantal  is an aged French cheese with a natural rind, a firm texture, and a subtle yet complex flavour. It’s one of the oldest French cheeses and is protected by an AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) that determines how and where cheeses using the Cantal name can be produced.

In order to be called Cantal, the cheeses must be ripened for at least 30 days. At that point, the cheese is called young (Cantal Jeune)  Over the months, its paste which is firm, ivory to dark yellow in colour, smooth for the youngest cheeses, can become slightly crumbly for the ripest ones. Its milky flavour, which can be slightly acidic at the start of ripening, gradually expands to become fruity, intense and lingering. Medium aged is Entre-Dieux and Older is Vieux.