Creamy white with a tart edge, goat cheese is renowned for adding a delicious, sophisticated gourmet touch to any meal, while always retaining a sort of humble simplicity. Its unique flavours, soft texture and distinctive colour make it an essential part of every cheese plate, but we can also thoroughly recommend enjoying it on its own with nothing but a few slices of crusty bread. Indeed, many would consider this a complete meal in itself. Though perhaps not when relatives are visiting.
The sharpness of goat cheese and its light texture make it a perfect accompaniment to sweet, dense ingredients like beetroot, apricot and butternut squash. But it also goes extremely well with sweeter meats like lamb, as anyone who has ever been to Greece will testify. If you want to make a salad out of it, then make sure you have some rosemary or thyme to hand. Those sweet, earthy flavours make for a divine combination.
When preparing a cheese plate with goat cheese, remember that it goes especially well with walnuts and fruits such as cherries, pear, raspberry (with younger cheeses), and watermelon. One especially beautiful affinity comes between goat cheese and figs (if you can find them — for a divinely sweet treat, try splitting open a few figs, filling them with a teaspoon of goat cheese, closing them up again, and then baking at 180°C for 10-15 minutes. You will be loved).
At Khéma, we have carefully selected the very best goat cheeses France has to offer.
Chabichou de Poitou is a fresh cheese with a firm and creamy texture that is beautiful with an equally fresh sauvignon blanc. There are also more aged varieties of Chabichou, that can be accompanied by a soft red like a Saumur.
Sainte Maure de Touraine is one of the classics. Made in the Loire Valley, this is a super-creamy full-fat cheese that is shaped into a log, and then rolled in ash, making it a supremely elegant, and deliciously buttery, addition to any table. As with most goat cheeses, it goes especially well with sauvignon blanc and wines from Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé.
Unlike the others, Picodon de l’Ardeche has a hard rind and a firmer, more crumbly texture. Its flavours are slightly stronger too: more ‘goaty’. We recommend serving this one as part of a cheese plate after (rather than within) a meal, along with a soft red or Cotes du Rhône rosé.
We have more too. Why not come along and check it out.
