Fresh cheeses are typically the youngest offerings in any cheese case, and while you can certainly make them with the milk of any animal, in France specifically, these tend to be small, lactic goat’s cheeses. Sixteen of France’s 47 AOP cheeses are chèvres, and you’ll also find loads of non-AOP goat cheeses all over the hexagon. Add to this the handful of fresh sheep’s milk cheeses like le Berrichon from the Loire, and you’ve got a wealth of mild-mannered stunners to discover.
A Plethora of Shapes
Mothais sur Feuille
While most cheeses are made in a wheel, there are a few outliers, from square-shaped Maroilles to Neufchâtel, in the form of a heart. But nowhere are unique shapes more widespread than in the fresh cheese family, where odd forms are the norm.
Expect to find everything from mounds creatively dubbed sein de nounou (nanny’s breast) to cheeses in the shape of a leaf. You may even see eccentric Eiffel Towers or Arcs de Triomphe!
Color Matters (Kind of)
Image credit: Valençay—Frédérique Voisin-Demery via Flickr
Many French chèvres have a grey rind, but make no mistake – that’s not mold!
The grey comes from the addition of ash, which balances the pH of the cheese and prevents the growth of undesirable bacteria. Often, grey-rinded cheeses come from winemaking regions, where cheesemakers were able to take advantage of ash formed by burning vine wood at the end of the grape harvest.
White-rinded goat cheeses tend to have a puckered, vermicular texture, which showcases another means of preventing these bacteria: the encouragement of a fungus called Geotrichum candidum. Geotrich naturally reduces the acidity of the cheese to lend it its rich, balanced flavors.
Many French chèvres have a grey rind, but make no mistake – that’s not mold!
North to South – A Range of Flavors and Intensities
Picodon – fresh cheese -image credit: Emily Monaco
The cradle of goat cheese in France is undoubtedly the Loire Valley: The Centre region alone boasts five AOP goat cheeses, from the near-cylinder of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine to the truncated pyramid of Valençay. And to the west, in Poitou, you’ll also find France’s newest AOP cheese, Mothais-sur-Feuille, which is aged on a chestnut leaf.
Generally speaking, expect Loire Valley chèvres to be a bit milder than the more assertive creations made in the south, such as Picodon, whose name evokes the Occitan word best translated as “prickly.”
To the east, Burgundian goat cheeses tend to be a bit denser than the creamy, almost marshmallowy Loire chèvres.
Fresh French Cheese—Further Reading in MyFrenchLife Magazine:
Sainte-maure-de-touraine:
Mothais-sur-feuille:
Picodon:
Are Fresh French cheeses your favourite? Share in the comments below
Introducing Contributor, Emily Monaco
Immerse yourself in all of Emily’s articles on her Contributor page.
 | A guest post by
|