Goat's cheese
"goat’s milk goes bad much faster than cow’s milk. The reason behind this? Goat’s milk is naturally homogenized, unlike its cow counterpart. As a result, goat’s milk ages much quicker. “As it ages, the milk will get progressively stronger and ‘goaty-er’. The longer you take to process the milk, the stronger the “goatyness” will be in the cheese,” Pete Messmer, America goat's cheese maker
Wherever you go in France you will eventually be offered goat's cheese. Whether it's just in the cheese course, or whether it's in a salad. And I have to say I'm not keen. But I do admit that there is actually a massive range of tastes. Well after all, how many different cheeses can you make from cow's milk? Well goat's cheese is no different and they've been making it since forever - at least 6,000BC.
Goats after all are much easier to look after than cows. They will eat almost anything it seems to me in the way of greenery or almost greenery. Just before we left Adelaide we were considering getting some goats to eat the blackberry plants that infested the hillside on which we lived. We were told you tie the goat to a big rubber tyre, throw the tyre into the middle of the blackberries and the goat would eat away until it was all gone. It's certainly true anyway that most of the poorer cultures of the world keep goats rather than cows. They are hardier and less demanding. Their only problem is that they don't give as much milk as cows. And their milk tastes - well goaty.
But that milk is actually supposed to be better for you. My second son was a bit of a sicky baby, and not being able to feed him myself he was fed on a goat's milk formula. It's apparently closer to human breast milk than cow's milk.
In France you get goat's milk cheeses that range from very fresh, very soft, very white cheeses with a much milder, fresher taste, to really stinky, really hard grey looking disks with mouldy looking rinds. Those I definitely do not like - but then I don't like strong cheeses generally. And it probably really demonstrates that I am not a true gourmet. I do think they are very aesthetically pleasing to look at though. The picture at the top of the page is a typical display in a French cheese shop, and the picture at left shows a good range of what is available. Note that there seem to be only a few of each kind - so I do sometimes wonder whether they are all from small producers rather than big companies. I'm sure that's the case in the markets anyway.
I took a photo of some particularly lovely varieties in the Narbonne market:
The fresh kind of goat's cheese though can be really, really nice - even addictive. On one holiday in France we were just outside a tiny village and we dined in both their tiny restaurants, neither of which had a menu to choose from and so in both we were presented as a first course, some fresh goat's cheese, drizzled - yes drizzled - with olive oil and fresh thyme. It was a revelation to me. If there had been a choice I would have actively steered clear, but there was none and I didn't want to be impolite. It was beautiful. Mind you on another holiday I was in a similar situation and I didn't like that - but then that one was cooked in a salad I think.
I adore feta cheese, and I know this is supposed to be goat's cheese, though I suspect the version I like (Danish) is made from cow's milk. The fresh kind of goat's cheese is becoming very fashionable here though. Indeed so fashionable that Coles had their own home-brand fresh log of goat's cheese. No more it seems. I haven't seen it for a while which is interesting. A log of goat's cheese should be as follows according to The Guardian's Tony Naylor.
"At its outer edges it should be just turning to a ripe goo of distinctly farmyard-y character, which progresses through rich, creamy outer rings to a centre that is white, virginal, slightly chalky and as tart (it's the fatty capric acid, apparently) as a late-night conversation between Noël Coward and Gore Vidal." Tony Naylor
The Holy Goat cheese company here makes award winning cheeses - I know one of their cheeses won the prize for best Australian cheese at least once. And here in Victoria we have Meredith Dairy which has become so popular that its cheeses are sold in all the supermarkets, and Yarra Valley Dairy too.
Why am I talking about goat's cheese? I was given a present of the Meredith Dairy version the other day, and tonight I am hosting the local book group, so I shall be offering it as something to nibble on - drizzled with their oil and sprinkled with some fresh thyme. Served with Coles rustic baguette. Made by a Frenchman and almost as good as a French baguette too.
