Buying and using cheese is as common in American food culture as baking with flour. One sector of the cheese world that is grossly neglected, however, is goat cheese. It’s a delicacy that’s been intellectually aging since the 5^th millennium. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the terrible Cyclops Polyphemus at one point shows his softer side by being said to be making feta goat cheese. Depictions of cheese-making grace the walls of some Ancient Egyptian tombs, and the Roman Empire saw the development of cheese making into an art form.

Most goat cheeses can be classified into one of three categories.

1.) Fresh goat cheese (commonly referred to by the French term, chèvre): soft, spreadable goat cheese that has not been aged. It is commonly served in a log or puck, sometimes with fresh herbs blended in, and can easily be made at home.

2.) Aged goat cheese: this is what it sounds like. Aged cheese has been made over a period of time to allow the cheese to develop a rind, intense flavors, and a harder texture. It is much less common than other goat cheeses, but should not be missed.

3.) Brined goat cheese: cheese that has been preserved or aged in a salty, brine solution. A popular example is feta, a salty, crumble, tangy cheese that can be found in Greek cuisine as either goat cheese or cheese from a mix of sheep and goat milk.

Within these categories, goat cheese can be further classified. The recent refocus on natural sourcing of food has allowed for a resurgence in specialty cheeses, including fancy goat cheeses made in small batches. Some farmers are inventing new cheeses using old methods.

Humboldt Fog is an American invented goat cheese. It was created by Mary Keens in the 1980s, and is said to have helped foster the American artisanal cheese making revolution. It features a beautiful line of vegetable ash surrounded by cheese aged to have a beautiful tangy taste.

Humboldt Fog. Source: seriouseats.com

Another new such cheese is “Bloomsdale Goat Cheese”, a cheese developed by Veronica Baetje in Missouri. She uses the classical and well-developed French methods of a pyramid shape and an ash dusting to age the cheese to perfection. It has won national cheese competitions and, though it can only be made in small batches by Ms. Baetje herself, it is being sold as far as NYC.

Bloomsdale Goat Cheese. Source: culturecheesemag

Of course, the old recipes for goat cheese are still very much in use. Feta is still brined much in the same way that is was back when cheese-making Cyclops roamed the earth. Certain specialty goat cheeses in France are even protected by laws to ensure that they are made in the way that they always have been, in the location where they originated.

A straw keeps this classic Saint-Maure du Touraine from crumbling. Source: seriouseats.com

Cheese from cow’s milk is undeniably delicious. It can be sprinkled on top of anything from tacos to spaghetti and still taste like angel kisses. But the next time that you have a craving for cheese, take a step away from the ordinary and try a kind of goat cheese that you’ve never had before! With such exquisite variety that has been honed over thousands of years (and is constantly being improved), there is a type of goat cheese for everyone to love.

Sources:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/09/all-about-goat-cheese/

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/shopping-storing/food/goat-cheese-varieties

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/dining/goat-cheese-mennonite.html?_r=0&module=CloseSlideshow&region=SlideShowTopBar&version=SlideCard-7&action=click&contentCollection=Food&pgtype=imageslideshow

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