Vieux Cantal

Vieux Cantal or Aged Cantal is a French semi-hard cheese originating from Salers, in the volcanic region of the Cantal mountains of the Massif Central, Auvergne, central France. It is a hard pressed and cooked cheese that has to be made with unpasteurised milk from the Salers breed of cattle and traditional animal rennet. Cantal cheese can only be made between 15th November and 15th April according to a long-standing French tradition. This is the time when the cattle are fed on hay and fodder rather than fresh grass which the cattle eat between April and November when their milk is used to make Cantals sister cheese Salers.
Circular in shape, each cheese is matured from between 3 and 45 months where it is turned regularly and the hard sticky brown rind is encouraged to develop. There are two types of Cantal cheese: Cantal Fermier, a traditional artisan farmhouse cheese made from raw milk; and Cantal Laitier, a commercial, mass-produced version made from pasteurised milk.
Cantal cheeses have been produced since ancient times and dates back to the time of Gaul. It is thought that the cheese has been produced in this region for at least 2,000 years. Both Cantal and Salers cheeses came to prominence when the Maréchal de Senneterre served them at the table of Louis XIV of France. Senneterre is also responsible for the introduction of Saint-Nectaire.
Cantal has benefited from the Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) since 1956.
Traditional Cantal producers are becoming increasingly rare, with fewer than 100 farmhouse producers remaining today in the Auvergne region.