So Fresh, So Clean, So Chevre
BY JULIA WAYNE
All winter, I topped colorful beet salads with tangy fresh chevre from some of my favorite local cheesemakers. Now that it’s warmed up, I’m eating this creamy goat’s cheese on fresh tomatoes with a touch of balsamic vinegar, brightening up my beloved fennel and orange salads, and spreading it on La Panzanella’s Croccantini, drizzled with lavender honey (Red Barn Lavender in Ferndale has a great one). But some folks reject the entire category of chevre. The barnyard taste they report when eating goat’s cheese is caused by pheromones released when billy goats are around the does. These pheromones actually get into the milk, causing a funky, “barty” flavor. While the hesitance of the haters means more for the rest of us, these three cheeses offer some solace for conflicted palates.
Gothberg Farms Chevre
I would marry this cheese (especially if people wouldn’t look at me funny when I said that). With its high moisture content, complete lack of granular texture, and creamy lactic flavor, this cheese is a pure expression of the way the does’ milk changes from one month to the next. Rhonda Gothberg loves the June chevre the best because the does have stopped kidding and have plenty of time to graze on all the grass they could wish for, making them fat, happy goats with fat, happy-tasting milk. Male goats are kept separate from the females, ensuring that the milk is never tainted by those pesky pheromones.
Port Madison Chevre
A favorite of chefs and cheesemongers in the Seattle area, the beautiful chevre from Bainbridge Island’s Port Madison Farm comes in several varieties. The classic plain version is a slightly tangy, pure white cheese. The texture is marginally chalky, making it an ideal cheese to serve at outdoor occasions when you want it to maintain its shape and consistency on warm afternoons. And unlike flavored chevres from other cheesemakers, most of the flavored varieties from Port Madison don’t have the herbs and spices mixed througout the cheese, which allows the consumer to control the amount of outside flavor in each bite. Flavors include herbs de Provence, cracked pepper, chives and garlic, and basil.
Mt. Townsend Fromage Blanc
For those of you who refuse to eat goat’s cheese, Mt. Townsend Fromage Blanc (available plain or truffled) is a fantastic substitute. While traditional fromage blanc errs on the wet side of things, this one has a texture which mimics fresh chevre to a T without the strong, grassy flavor of goat’s milk. The subtle tang and malleable quality of this cheese makes it great for adding to salads, topping burgers or bagels, or using in desserts.