🧀 Salers

Salers is a French pressed, uncooked cheese with a protected designation of origin (PDO), made from raw whole cow's milk in the volcanic Cantal Mountains of Auvergne. It is made only on farms and only from April to November, while the cows are at pasture, and the milk is curdled in a wooden vat called a gerle. ¹⁴

It was born on the summer pastures. According to the specification, cheeses from this area were already famous in Roman times. In summer Salers was made in burons, stone huts that served as home, dairy and cellar at once, and the cows grazing the high meadows were milked twice a day. In autumn the cheeses were sold to merchants in the valleys, who ripened them further in their cellars and sold them on to traders. Cheese was a way to keep milk for months. ³

It became an appellation in 1961. The name was recognised by a decree of 21 December 1961 as Salers Haute-Montagne, and production was already limited to the grazing season on mountain meadows. ³⁴ The EU has protected the name since 1996. ¹ The current specification was approved on 7 July 2021, and the EU approved a major amendment to it in Regulation 2023/1, published on 3 January 2023. ³ The application for that amendment, with the single document, was published in September 2022. ² The name is managed by the Cantal cheese committee (CIF) in Aurillac. ⁴

The area covers the volcanic Cantal, Cézallier and part of the Monts Dore. It takes in most of the Cantal department and a few communes of Aveyron, Corrèze, Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme. ⁴ The highest point is the Plomb du Cantal at 1,855 m. The climate is mountainous, wet and cool, with over 1,000 mm of rain a year. Volcanic soils hold water well, so grass grows steadily from spring to autumn, and the meadows are full of aromatic plants such as spignel, lady's mantle and lady's bedstraw. ³

Salers is a farmhouse cheese only. It is made on the farm from the farm's own herd, and a dairy may not serve several farms. It is made from 15 April to 15 November and only while the animals are on grass. The basic ration is grazed grass from the area alone, and supplements (cereal concentrates, oilcake, hay, lucerne) are limited to 25% of dry matter. ³ In summer 2022 drought stopped production because the meadows had burnt up; farms that pause Salers often turn their milk into farmhouse Cantal instead. ⁶

It all starts in a wooden vat. During milking the milk goes straight into the gerle. Rennet is added at 30–34 °C, and the milk sets in 12–16 minutes. About an hour later the curd is cut by hand, the whey drained and the mass squeezed, then pressed in a curd press to at least 54% dry matter, cut into blocks several times and turned at least six times. The wood of the gerle seeds the milk naturally with microflora unique to each dairy, which is why every cheese tastes different. ³

The tome is milled, salted and pressed again. The pressed curd, called the tome, acidifies for 8–12 hours and then matures for as long again. It is then crumbled, dry salt (at least 2%) is worked in by hand, and it rests with the salt for over three hours. The mass is packed by hand into a 38–48 cm mould lined with linen and pressed for about 48 hours. Freezing milk, curd or fresh cheese is banned. The cheese ripens for at least three months at 6–14 °C and over 95% humidity, and is regularly turned and rubbed. ³

A wheel weighs 30–50 kg. It contains at least 58% dry matter and 44% fat in dry matter. The paste ranges from ivory to straw yellow, with an open, meshed texture from the milled tome, and the rind is dry, bumpy, golden to ochre. ² Every wheel carries an embossed stamp with the name twice and the day of forming; cheese from herds made up only of Salers cows bears a "tradition salers" stamp with cows' heads. ³ In 2024, 1,050 tonnes were sold, 1% less than in 2023 and 30% less than in 2014. Salers is one of only three wholly farmhouse appellations and the third-largest by farmhouse volume, after Saint-Nectaire and Reblochon. ⁵

Salers or Cantal? The two are neighbours in the volcanic Auvergne but are separate names. Salers is made only on farms, only from the farm's own herd, only from 15 April to 15 November while the cows graze, and only with milk curdled in a gerle, a wooden vat. Wheels are large, 30–50 kg, and ripen at least three months; the milled, pressed tome gives an open, meshed paste and a dry, bumpy golden to ochre rind. The wooden vat seeds each dairy's milk with its own microflora, so one wheel never tastes quite like another.

The label must show the name “Salers” and the EU PDO symbol (protected designation of origin) in the same field of view; only a brand and “tradition salers” may be added. Every wheel carries an embossed stamp with the name twice and the day of forming. Pre-packed pieces must include part of the rind. As the cheese is made in 30–50 kg wheels, you will usually meet it cut at a cheesemonger, a supermarket cheese counter or a delicatessen.

Why it matters to you. The label must show the name (in letters at least two thirds the size of the largest) and the EU PDO symbol in the same field of view, and no other descriptive wording is allowed except a brand and "tradition salers". Pre-packed pieces must include part of the rind. ³ Farmhouse making, the season and the gerle give each wheel its own taste. ⁴