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C 431/34

EN

Official Journal of the European Union
14.11.2022

The specific quality of Emmental franais est-central is down to the feed of the dairy cattle herd and the grazing obligation at least 6 months, which forges a strong link between Emmental franais est-central and the various areas that make up the east-central region.
The dairy cows basic feed comes exclusively from the geographical area: grass during the summer period, and hay and coarse fodder during winter. Therefore, the local feed given to the cows results mainly from a respect for the traditional cycles of grazing and haymaking, which helps to preserve grassland biodiversity but also the microbial biodiversity of the milk.
The organoleptic characteristics of Emmental franais est-central are influenced by the grassland flora and especially the microflora of the milk, which must be used raw. Thus the milk from the grasslands of the eastcentral region has a higher protein content, which is essential for it to be made into cheese.
In addition, the ban on the use of fermented feed silage and wrapped, round bales of hay and of supplementary feed from scented plants Cruciferae, etc. prevents the occurrence of butyric fermentation and acidity in the milk and later in the cheese, and prevents flavours and odours that are unpleasant to consumers.
In the same way, the absence of butyric fermentation owing to the quality of the milk and the limited lipolysis due to the storage conditions of the collected milk allow the product to be ripened for a longer period and to keep better.
These precautions are essential to allow large wheels of cooked, pressed cheese made from raw milk to be ripened in cellars for a long period of time at least 12 weeks as opposed to 6 weeks for standard French Emmental, in keeping with tradition.
The ripening process consists of three stages, including an intermediate phase in warm cellars during which the characteristic openings in the paste are formed. These opening are separate from one another, spherical to oval in shape, well distributed, regular and well defined, ranging from the size of a cherry to that of a walnut.
The more pronounced proteolysis, resulting from long-term ripening, is the reason for the typical clean and fruity flavour.
At the end of the ripening process, it is up to the ripener to select the cheeses based on various scores relating to the organoleptic characteristics of Emmental franais est-central PGI, such as openings, paste, flavour and aroma.
The 12-week maturing period, along with the intrinsic qualities of the milk used, is therefore the single most important factor that lends Emmental franais est-central its characteristic features. Mastery of the three phases of ripening combined with an astute selection process by the ripeners at the end of this stage contributes to the typical characteristics of the product, which is characterised mainly by a hard, dry rind, a golden-yellow to lightbrown colour, a supple and melt-in-the-mouth paste and openings ranging from the size of a cherry to that of a walnut.
Reference to publication of the specification https info.agriculture.gouv.fr/gedei/site/bo-agri/document_administratif-17d4b020-03b3-42af-88ee-d9124b73b41b