Appellation of Controlled Origin

Appellation of Controlled Origin (AOC)

Appellation of Controlled Origin (AOC) is a French certification system that sets standards for certain products that producers have to meet in order for those products to be labelled with certain product names.

Beurre Charentes-Poitou

Beurre Charentes-Poitou is a cream-coloured, 82% butterfat, easy-to-spread butter made from pasteurized cream. No additional substances, including colouring or preservatives, are allowed. It has to be made in the French départements of Charente, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée or Vienne (part of the old French province of Poitou.) In this catchment area, it is made by 12 different…

Beurre d’Échiré

Beurre d’Échiré is an AOC butter made by a cooperative, Société de Laiterie Coopérative d’Échiré, that produces only 950 tons of it a year. The butterfat content is 84%. The milk must come from cows that have grazed within 19 miles (30 km) of Échiré, a village on the Atlantic coast of France between Poitiers…

Beurre d’Isigny

Beurre d’Isigny is a French butter that is used both as a spread and as an ingredient. It is sold in round paperboard tubs with replaceable lids (designed in Finland but made in Habsheim, France), in foil logs and in low, rectangular plastic tubs. There are sweet and semi-salted versions; both are 82% butterfat. The…

Bleu d’Auvergne

Bleu d’Auvergne is a cream-coloured blue cheese with streaks of blue in it. It is spicy but not sharp tasting, and mild.

Bresse Chickens

Bresse Chickens are a special breed from France, prized because their meat is marbled with fat. Everything about the breed is controlled by a French AOC designation granted on 1 August 1957. The standards laid out in the designation are governed by the “Comité Interprofessionnel de la Volaille de Bresse.” Almost 30% of the Bresse…

Brie de Meaux

Brie de Meaux is a Brie cheese made from raw cow’s milk. It is aged at least 4 weeks, developing a nutty flavour as it ages. The ones made in the fall are considered by some to be the best.

Cantal Cheese

Cantal Cheese is a semi-firm cheese made from cow’s milk from up to three different breeds of cattle. There are both pasteurized milk and raw milk versions. Well-aged ones can be used for grating.

Crottin de Chavignol Cheese

Crottin de Chavignol cheese is shaped like a squat cylinder. It can be then be eaten at any stage from fresh to very mature. As it starts to ripen, it develops a beige rind with white mould on it, and the inside darkens from pure white to ivory.

Espelette Chile Peppers

Espelette chile peppers are grown in and around the village of Espelette, in the Nive Valley, in the Basque region of France, 4 miles (7 km) from the Spanish border. By law, to be called Espelette chile peppers, they can be only grown in 10 communities: Espelette, Ainhoa, Cambo les Bains, Halsou, Itsassou, Jatsou, Laressore,…

Morbier Cheese

Morbier cheese is a mild-tasting cheese with a golden-brown rind. Inside, it is pale yellow, and semi-firm yet creamy and supple, with some very small holes and a thin layer of white pine ash in the middle.

Neufchâtel Cheese

Neufchâtel is a soft, spreadable cheese made from whole milk that is somewhat like a cross between cream cheese and Brie. It has a slight tang to its taste, and is often made in a heart-shape.

Nyons Olive Oil

Nyons Olive Oil is made from “Tanche” olives grown in the area of Nyons, Provence. The olives contain 20 to 25% oil. The olives are allowed to ripen till black and wrinkled, then harvested in December and January, and pressed. The olive oil is yellow in colour, and mild tasting. The olive oil received AOC…

Olives Les Baux de Provence

Olives Noires de la Vallée des Baux de Provence (full name) is a style of olives made in Provence from olives from Grossane trees (which grow in the same area, Vallée des Baux de Provence.) The style of processing the olives is AOC protected.The olives are harvested in December when the olives are changing from…

Pineau des Charentes

Pineau des Charentes is a French Apéritif made in the Cognac region. It is classified as a vin de liqueur. Pineau des Charentes can be white (actually gold-coloured), made from white grapes, or rosé, made from red grapes. Very ripe grapes are pressed to produce fresh grape juice, then let sit for a few hours…

Roquefort Cheese

Roquefort Cheese © Denzil Green Roquefort Cheese is a blue cheese made from raw sheep’s milk curdled with calf rennet. The breed of sheep that the milk is taken from is called “Lacaune.” The wheels are 8 inches wide by 3 to 4 inches (7.5 x 10 cm) tall, and weigh 5 ½ to 6…

Salers Cheese

Salers is a semi-firm French cheese made from raw milk from Salers cattle owned by the cheesemaker in the Cantal region of Auvergne, France.

Sbrinz Cheese

Sbrinz cheese is a Swiss cheese with a brownish-yellow rind and dark yellow interior. When the cheese is sold young, anywhere between 18 and 24 months, it can be sold as a version called “Spalen”. Having the texture of a Gruyère, it can be sliced or used for cooking. Past that, the cheese becomes a hard…