Banon Cheese

Banon is a soft, almost runny cheese that matures without a rind forming on it.

Depending on the Banon, it is made with milk from goats, goats and cows, or just cows, and sometimes any combination of the above can have sheep's milk as well.

Curds are formed from the milk, then pressed into little wheels, salted and let mature for about a week, then wrapped in chestnut leaves that have been soaked first in brandy, then tied up with raffia to form parcels about 3 inches (8 cm) wide. The leaves prevent a rind from forming on the cheese, and the tannin on the leaves often dyes the outside of the cheese brown. If any blue mould forms under the leaves, that mould is edible.

Some types of Banon are aged for a few weeks, others are matured for a few months.

Some describe the taste as mild, but it depends on the one you get and how long it has been aged. The taste is like something between bacon and hay; generally sharp, pungent and sometimes acrid. Use Banon up right away, as it can develop an "ammonia" scent that will shoot up your nasal passages. If you don't like goat's cheese, Banon can taste very goaty.

The cheese originated in Provence, France. There is actually a small village called Banon where they pump out 600,000 of these cheeses each year (as of 2004.) There is an American version now (2004) being made by Capriole in Indiana.

Also called:

Goat's Milk Cheeses

Añejo Cheese, Banon Cheese, Boilie Cheese, Bonchester Cheese, Boursin Cheese, Brie Cheese, Brillat-Savarin Cheese, Bruss Cheese, Burrata Cheese, Caboc Cheese, Camembert Cheese, Chaource Cheese, Chèvre Frais, Cornish Yarg Cheese, Crottin de Chavignol Cheese, Crowdie Cheese, Cumulus Cheese, Edel de Cléron Cheese, Feta Cheese, Feuille d'automne Cheese, Fresh Cheeses, Garrotxa Cheese, Kirkham Lancashire Cheese, La Tur Cheese, Lancashire Cheese, Le Cendrillon Cheese, Le Veillon Cheese, Lymeswold Cheese, Mitzithra Cheese (Fresh), Oaxaca Cheese, Oxford Isis Cheese, Pié d'angloys, Pithiviers Cheese, Pont Couvert Cheese, Prescinseua Cheese, Saint André Cheese, Squacquerone Cheese, St-Nectaire Cheese, Tarapatapom Cheese, Telemes Cheese, Teviotdale Cheese, Tornegus Cheese, Vacherin Chaput Cheese, Vacherin d'Abondance, Vacherin Mont d'Or, Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries, Whirl Cheese

Affinage, American Cheeses, British Cheeses, Casu Marzu, Cheese Curds, Cheese Rinds, Creamery, Double/Triple-Cream Cheese, Extra-Hard Cheeses, Firm Cheeses, Goat's Milk Cheeses, Mexican Cheeses, Pate (of a Cheese), Processed Cheese, Queso Fundido, Rennet, Semi-Firm Cheeses, Sheep's Milk Cheeses, Skim-Milk Cheeses, Smear-Ripened Cheeses, Surface-Ripened Cheeses, Sweet Curd Cheeses, The Crumblies, Truckle, Washed-Curd Cheeses, Washed-Rind Cheeses, Yak Cheese, Yeel Cheese

Butter, Milk