Cathare
Encyclopedia
Cathare is a goat's milk cheese from the Languedoc-Roussillon
region of France
. The cheese
comes in flat discs whose face is covered in charcoal powder with the Occitan cross
inscribed. Under the rind, Cathare is pure white with a soft, creamy texture. Its goat-milk flavor intensifies as it ages, and reaches its prime after two to three weeks, which makes it typically unavailable in the United States
, due to the Food and Drug Administration
's stance that raw milk
soft cheeses can pose as a health risk. The sale of raw milk cheese aged under 60 days is illegal in the United States.
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
region of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
comes in flat discs whose face is covered in charcoal powder with the Occitan cross
Occitan cross
The Occitan cross — also cross of Occitania, cross of Languedoc, cross of Forcalquier and Toulouse cross — is the symbol of Occitania...
inscribed. Under the rind, Cathare is pure white with a soft, creamy texture. Its goat-milk flavor intensifies as it ages, and reaches its prime after two to three weeks, which makes it typically unavailable in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, due to the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
's stance that raw milk
Raw milk
Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized.-History:Humans consumed raw milk exclusively prior to the industrial revolution and the invention of the pasteurization process in 1864. During the industrial revolution large populations congregated into urban areas detached from the...
soft cheeses can pose as a health risk. The sale of raw milk cheese aged under 60 days is illegal in the United States.