Meeting with Emilien Fatet, cheese technician
We met Emilien Fatet, cheese technician at Actalia, who explains his job, his daily life and his role with cheese producers.
Originally from Ain with agricultural training at ISARA, the “virus” of cheese processing came to him quite early, during an internship in mountain pastures in Savoie. After working for a milk producers’ union in Haute-Saône, Emilien became a cheese technician by joining Actalia, the partner structure of Abondance cheese for the control of its quality. Emilien has been working for several years in particular with Pierre-Marie and Sébastien, associated with the Ferme de Seraussaix (at 1700 m altitude, Morzine), dairy cow breeders and producers of Abondance and Reblochon cheese. With a new workshop built around 5 years ago, the two producers invested in a device for humidifying and regulating the temperature of the maturing cellars to improve the quality and maturing of their Abondance cheese.
The producers of Abondance have this friendliness, this simplicity and this attachment to their territory which makes you quickly feel good with them. With the producers I work with, it’s often more than just a producer/technician relationship that we have
Today, Emilien’s role is broken down into three main activities:
- technical support in cheesemaking for producers,
- evaluating the quality of cheeses,
- conducting research and development projects in the field of cheese technology.
Technical support in manufacturing for Abondance producers.
Its mission to producers consists in particular of supporting them in controlling, adjusting and perfecting cheese making. Emilien is involved at all levels of production, he controls the milk, lactic ferments, milk coagulation, draining in vats, draining under press, brining and refining.
To do this, he travels with a mini portable laboratory, thanks to which he can carry out a whole series of tests and measurements on site (duration, temperature, acidity, pH, hygrometry, etc.) at all stages of manufacturing. He records his results on a manufacturing sheet which will then be used to establish a complete report intended for producers. To complete his diagnosis, he takes samples of milk, curds and cheese which he will analyze in the laboratory in La Roche-sur-Foron upon returning from technical support. These visits are also a time to discuss with the producer the manufacturing problems they are encountering or what has changed since the last monitoring. Emilien’s work generally concludes at the end of the morning by taking stock of the cheesemaker and deciding with him on the corrective measures to be implemented in relation to his observations of the day.
In the workshops, I meet all generations, elders who have a lot to pass on, young people who are taking over their parents’ farm, others who come from the other side of France to settle here and who arrive with new ideas, etc. It’s great to see all these different people and personalities working for and around one beautiful product: Abondance cheese!
Evaluation of cheese quality.
To better support and advise producers, Emilien also controls the quality of the cheeses produced in a workshop. At the same time, this makes it possible to constitute a collective quality observatory at the appellation level. To do this, during his visits, Emilien goes to the maturing cellar, where he will sample a sample of cheeses. He will give each of these cheeses a quality rating based on the defects in appearance, texture and taste that he may have observed. The results will then be entered into a computer database
To do this job, you have to know how to stay humble. Humble in front of a cheesemaker, who whatever anyone says, will always have better knowledge than you of what happens on a daily basis in his workshop. And humble in the face of cheese technology in general, which remains so complex that in my opinion, no one can claim to understand and master it completely, especially when working with raw milk as is the case. the case in our region!
R&D at the heart of its business.
In parallel with his activities with producers, Emilien is responsible for local and national research and development projects:
- local projects will be carried out for and with Savoyard cheeses under AOP and IGP;
- national projects are very varied. These may involve partnerships with other AOP cheeses or with public research organizations, for example.
The themes are multiple: from the selection of strains of technological interest to health issues through the capitalization of knowledge and know-how… Crucial subjects for cheesemakers, taking into account the increase in requirements for sectors under AOP or IGP dairy.
Even though not all research projects are successful, we always learn new things about cheese technology, even when they fail! But above all, it allows us to always bring more to our cheesemakers. Today, we are dealing with cheesemakers who are more and more technical, more and more sophisticated, more and more waiting for new knowledge. This pushes us to go ever further in understanding the mechanisms of manufacturing to be able to provide them with the knowledge they need
Today, Emilien devotes a good part of his time to research and development, but continues to follow 6 to 7 Abondance workshops with 2 to 6 visits per year per workshop.
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The quality of raw milk! A lot happens before the milk arrives in the tank. The milk must have the right composition of fat and proteins, but also that it contains good flora, that is to say a lot of micro-organisms of technological interest and few undesirable flora… Much more easy said than done, you have to be a damn good breeder to be able to achieve these goals all year round!
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Be rigorous at all levels! You have to be rigorous in manufacturing: be precise about times, temperatures, reversals, etc. You also have to be rigorous in the cellar: caring for the cheeses is fundamental in Abondance. Delaying the rubbing of cheeses, even for just one day, can be enough to reveal crusting defects.
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You have to know how to adapt! For a raw milk cheese like Abondance, each day of production is both very similar to the previous one, but also always a little different. This is where the cheesemaker’s “paw” intervenes to adjust his manufacturing parameters from day to day.
For Emilien, Abondance cheese is eaten as an aperitif accompanied by a glass of white wine (the origin of which he will keep quiet so as not to offend anyone).