Banon
Cheese
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Banon is a small soft-ripened goat's-milk cheese from the Haute-Provence region of south-eastern France, instantly recognised by the brown chestnut leaves tied around it with raffia. Creamy, nutty and faintly animal, it is one of the few French cheeses defined by its leaf wrapping rather than by a rind.
Picking a good onedrag
Supple, mild, brown leaves snugLingering ammonia, fuzzy mould
RipeEveryday bestSoft and glossy through. Raw goat's milk: if pregnant, over 65, immunocompromised or a young child, eat it only baked till steaming hot.
Under the leavesRind tacky, a little paste on the inside of the leaves
Press the centreYields readily, soft and glossy to the core
Smell once unwrappedGoatier and nutty, the woody leaf note deeper