A trailer full of goat cheeses next to a stand of local produce at the St-Aignan Saturday market.We live at the intersection of three A.O.C. goat cheese regions, each with its distinctive shape for the cheese: Selles-sur-Cher (disk shaped), Valençay (pyramid shaped), and Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine (log shaped with a straw in the middle). We're also close to the Chavignol and Pouligny cheese regions. There is a lot of goat cheese at all the markets around us. Our little market here in Saint-Aignan has at least three different goat cheese vendors that I can think of.
In my experience, there isn't much of a flavor difference among these goat cheeses. But each cheese is available in a range of ripeness from "fresh" to "very dry." That's where the flavor differences lie.
Ever tried a whole wheat baked sandwich with goat cheese, and honey on the side? Heaven!
ReplyDeleteI've bought cheese from the woman who has that little trailer. She's the cheesemaker, and the cheese she sold me was wrapped only in a piece of plain paper. I took it to the U.S. and I got it through customs. It was a couple of years ago. I never tasted the cheese, however — it was a gift.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tasted goat cheese :)
ReplyDeleteI love goat cheese. When I visit be sure to remind me to pick up some. : )
ReplyDeleteWalt, some of the cheeses of the 'same' ripeness are smoother than others... but they all taste the same. I find that the fresh logs, wrapped in cling-film are very similar to cream cheese... but I haven't tried a cheesecake recipe with it yet.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the 'Young' cheese has a pleasant, moist mild flavour, the 'Semi-mature' has a mild blue taste, the 'Ripe' seems to have lost some of the blue-ness [despite having a bluer rind] and has a lovely creamy layer just under the rind with a stronger flavour throughout and, finally, the 'Dur' has a lovely nutty flavour and the rind seems to have lost all of its blue flavour. The last one is good for grating into sauces. Pauline and I discovered that when we let a 'Dur' get almost rock-solid and we decided to use it for cooking with.
We can get pretty good goat cheese here in PA from a farm about an hour from us. Their cheese is also sold at the Cowgirl Creamery in Washington DC.
ReplyDeleteThe best goat cheese we've ever tasted, in France or elsewhere, is from a farm near Mortagne-au-Perche. That's not even a traditional goat cheese area.
Word verification is "iminaen"--and yes, I'll admit I sometimes am inane.
Do they sell Kraft, individually sliced and wrapped?
ReplyDeleteYour Friend, m.
Mark! That's like shouting a profanity in church! This is France, and the best produce is found on local markets, same as it goes in Holland. ;)
ReplyDeletepeter, no, but it sounds good!
ReplyDeletevtt, can you get it where you live?
rick, will do. ;)
tim, I like the fresh and semi-dry for eating. The real dry stuff is better for cooking and being soaked in oils and such. But many people love eating those, too.
carolyn, when I lived in California, I HATED goat cheese. It had a funny smell (like goats) that I just couldn't get past. But now, in France, I really like the stuff! Go figure.
mark, to tell you the truth, I haven't thought to look... ;)
peter, hehehe!
I think it's very clever of this vendor to use the cart as his vending stand.
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteJust to say I've added a link to this blog at http://feteamanger.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/any-old-cheese/