Question: How do you know that Parmigiano-Reggiano and Le Gruyere are made from raw milk when they don’t actually say that on their labels?
Answer: They have to be made that way by law.
In Europe there are laws about how cheese is made and where it is made and what kind of milk is used and on and on. These laws lead to what are called “appellations” or certifications. It’s complicated because there are many countries in the European Union (28 including the UK) and the different languages mean different names for their appellations.
Courtesy of Cheese Traveler.com
Some of these laws date back centuries. In France, for example the first cheese appellation was for Roguefort in 1411(!) Charles VI decreed that the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon had the sole right to call their cheese Roguefort.
Prior to that, anyone could make a cheese, call it a Roguefort and sell it as such. That seemed unfair to the cheesemakers who had been making the same cheese for generation after generation in the place where it was first created.
In 1925, France modernized it’s laws and developed it’s first official, national AOC designation (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, which means Controlled Designation of Origin). Roguefort became the first cheese awarded AOC status and others soon followed.
The rules for Roguefort are very specific. In order to be awarded this designation:
1. All milk used must be delivered at least 20 days after lambing has taken place.
2. The sheep must be on pasture, whenever possible, in an area including most of Aveyron and parts of neighboring départements. At least
