Saint Felicien

What is Saint Felicien Cheese?

Saint-Félicien comes from the Rhône-Alpes region of France and takes its name from the small town where it was first produced and sold. In France it is designated a dauphinois cheese, after the former province of Dauphiné. Early versions used goat's milk. Cow's milk later became the norm, and the first mention of a cow's milk Saint-Félicien is a trademark filed at the Lyon Commercial Court on 6 November 1956 by Marius Boucher, a producer from Villeurbanne.

Antoine Fuster took over Boucher's cheese factory and improved the production method. Advertising campaigns, updated labeling and mechanization built the cheese's reputation on the Lyon market through the 1960s, and by the late 1970s it accounted for 70 to 80 percent of the Fuster dairy's output. A second registration, "Le Saint-Félicien", was filed in February 1963 by Ferdinand Brun, head of the largest dairy in the Saint-Marcellin region, the first documented cow's milk version from Isère. After a series of legal disputes the name lost its trademark protection, and dairies in Isère and Drôme grew as the Lyon dairies disappeared.

The cheese ages 4 to 6 weeks. A creamy interior sits inside a flower-style (fleurie) casing, and an average round weighs 180 grams (6.3 oz). It is a close cousin of Saint-Marcellin and shares its texture and taste, but it is softer, creamier and can be almost twice the diameter.

Flavor peaks between April and September, though the cheese eats well from March through December. French Decree No. 2007-628 of 27 April 2007 lists it among soft cheeses made from cow's milk. Do not confuse it with the goat's milk cheese called caillé doux from Saint-Félicien, Ardèche.