Making Goat Cheese

Antique French Cheese Molds

 It took me three years to figure out how to make fresh goat cheese.  I suppose that makes me seem inept in the kitchen (which may or may not be the case).  However, the main reason it took me so long to get it right is that I was approaching the process from a totally wrong direction.

I had already been successfully making fresh homemade cheese from Patricia Wells’ Provence Cookbook, but wanted to make the unheated variety.  The homemade cheese made from milk and vinegar is wonderfully warm and fragrant when first cooked, but tends to dry up and harden when used the next day.  I was dreaming of those creamy goat cheese rounds that I had bought in the markets in France.  Around that time, I took the boys to France and we spent several days at the Dubois’ foie gras farm in the Dordogne.  Danie took me to her fromagerie where they had a small herd of goats and were making rocamadour.  The cheese-making wife kindly showed us how she made her cheese and explained the process as I furiously scribbled notes.  She talked of petit lait and présure, words I didn’t know, but faithfully transcribed to research later.  Petit lait turned out to be whey and présure, liquid rennet.  OK.  So, off I went to the pharmacie to pick up some présure and once home, started my cheese making operation.

The only problem was I didn’t have a goat.  But Harigaya-san was dropping off a few liters of milk every 4 days or so.  The arrival of goat milk in my mudroom, though always appreciated, was often also greeted with an ungrateful internal groan (“oh god, I have to make cheese today”).  Nonetheless, I carefully saved my whey (the petit lait) in little Tupperware containers and tried to recreate the cheese making conditions as in the Dordogne.  Some days, the milk just didn't get used and eventually had to be thrown out.  Though really, the main problem with the cheese making was I really never loved what I made.  Sometimes it tasted fine, but it never really grabbed me and sometimes it tasted downright sour (not enough “good” bacteria).

I knew I needed help, so my friend Sylvan offered to hook me up with the Cowgirls.  Sue Connolly graciously agreed for me to spend a couple days at the Cowgirl Creamery in Pt. Reyes to get some cheese-making pointers.  I dragged along my father and his wife and we arrived early one morning in August to observe Maureen making Mt. Tam and cottage cheese.  I learned that the method using petit lait as the culture was unpredictable and in my case not possible since my whey was not fresh (no goat yet).  Sue recommended getting mesophilic culture from New England Cheesemaking, so I went on line to order my supplies.  We spent a couple mornings at the Creamery and I went home feeling like I could really do this. 

I tried the cheese a few times before Harigaya-san’s milk supply dwindled down to nothing.  By this time we had our own goat and after a 6-month hiatus, I started making cheese again. This time, with our goat milk.  It was still quite an operation and the cheese was again fine, some batches better than others, but it just wasn’t wonderful.  We ate some and gave the rest away.  Sometimes the cheese just went bad in the fridge.  I started to resent the 2 oversized bottles of milk that Christopher left me everyday on the counter. 

In the summer of 2008, we again went to the Dubois farm in the Dordogne.  And this time, I noticed little goat cheese rounds sitting on the kitchen counter.  And so began my goat cheese-making education.  Finally.  Although Danie no longer has goats or cows, she is a farm wife and I am a farm wife so it makes sense that the method that she learned from her grandmother would work for me.  And it did.  Out went the sterilization.   Also, out went the (smelly) cheese muslin.  Danie diagnosed my problem right away:  too much rennet.  No surprise, as I’m prone to wildly adding more of everything when I cook.  The cheese has to sit over night.  Also the cheese has to drip for 8 hours.  And cheese making must be done religiously every day right after milking.  

The first day I unmolded 6 (almost) perfect little rounds, I zoomed over to Sunny-Side Up! to give the staff a try.  I didn't think the kids would be interested, but when I walked into the school with my cheese board in hand, I was assailed by eager little ones clambering for a peek at what I was carrying.  I offered small wedges all around and they took them without hesitation.  That’s trust.  I walked into the backyard with my board and dropped more wedges into grimy little hands.  No worries, a little dirt adds flavor.  I couldn’t keep up with the demand and had to go home for more.  I’ll stop right here and mention that Japanese kids don’t really eat much cheese, and certainly not goat cheese.

And what I realized that day is that every single kid wanted to taste what I was doling out.  They trusted that I would give them something good without question, even if they didn’t end up liking it.  They trusted me.  That was a powerful moment.  And a responsibility that I take very seriously as I cook for them every day stretching the limits of what they can eat, by giving them the freshest and most delicious versions of any food.  Because they deserve it and because they trust me.

 (And the goat cheese was really, really good.)

Patricia Wells’ Tomato Confit on Herbed Goat Cheese Toasts

I learned a lot about cooking from Patricia Wells at Home in Provence and my first copy is falling apart.  I bought a new one, though still use the old (even though the pages are all out of order now).  The book is full of really useful country recipes that still make sense today.  In fact, they almost make more sense because they bring great comfort to the table.   I used cherry tomatoes, but Patricia uses Romas (I also omitted the pinch of confectioner’s sugar).  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Cut small tomatoes lengthwise and place skin side up on the foil.  Scatter little sprigs of thyme leaves over the tomatoes and top each one with a thin slice of garlic.  Drizzle with good olive oil and back in a low heat oven (200F).  Cook for about an hour then flip the tomatoes and continue cooking for another hour.  Cook less for cherry tomatoes (make sure they don’t dry out).  Transfer to a jar and they’ll keep for a week in the fridge.  I chopped up a bunch of summer herbs and mixed them into mashed up fresh goat cheese (basil, parsley, summer savory or thyme are all good contenders) and added some sea salt & fresh pepper.  Spread goat cheese on baguette toasts drizzled with olive oil then baked for 7 minutes on a cookie pan in a 425F oven.  Top with a piece tomato confit half. 

Danie's Goat Cheese Method:  We were getting about 3 liters of milk a day.  Pour the goat milk into a big crockery bowl, add 4 drops of liquid rennet and about 3/4 of a ladle of the whey from the day before.  Let it sit 8 hours and then gently scoop out large pieces of curds with a small mesh strainer into a larger mesh strainer set over another big crockery bowl.  The next AM, start again with the new goat milk.  The drained cheese from the previous day gets packed into little antique pottery molds and sits for a day to drain a bit more.  Reverse the drained cheeses onto little trays with bamboo racks (for soba) and pop them in the cheese fridge (a small refrigerator on the lowest setting for the affinage).  Turn the cheeses every day.  (I was never successful at the aging process, though.  They just dried out.  Back to Danie’s perhaps?)

Comments

[olga :D]

ok can we just take all of these blogs and make a book that is filled with stories, recipes, and life lessons. ***I know I'm onto something :D

[Nancy Singleton Hachisu]

Hey Olga...sure I'd love to do a book. Finding a publisher is a whole different ball of wax. I'm working on it. See you in November...Nancy

[Naomi Mann]

Hi, Nancy -- Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your blogs. Your writing about your every day life opens up a whole world -- just what great essay writing is all about. Yes, there is certainly a book here. I can hardly wait to read it. Naomi

[Nancy Singleton Hachisu]

Thank you Naomi. Coming from a seasoned and gifted writer as you, that makes it all the more encouraging. Nancy