#20 - St Nectaire de Fermiere

We had to try this classic. This particular cheese, being a fermiere cheese, will have been produced on the farm where the milk was produced - not in a factory away over the hills, although we purchased it from Fromagerie Beillevaire at Challans market.

Smells like potatoes and brown mould (i.e. earthy!).  Thick brown rind but a semi-firm texture inside.  The mouldy/cave/earthy flavour on the rind permeates through the rest of the cheese - and we thought dominated the flavour too much for our personal liking.  There was a small amount of mechanical openness in the paste, which had a smooth mouth feel and was slightly squeeky on our teeth.  There was not much salt in the cheese, which may have contributed to our feeling that the flavour was not as balanced as we had hoped.

A St Nectaire de Fermiere

  

#19 - Salers, France

We purchased this cheese from the Fromagerie Beillevaire stall at the Challans market, although we do not know the name of the specific producer.  

A cows milk cheese.  We had a portion cut from a large round of the cheese.  The curd looks young and not well knitted, a bit like a Lancashire, but there was a well developed rind.  The texture was moist but slightly crumbly and also fatty.  The flavour was acidic, with savoury notes but we did not think was balanced overall.  There were slight lingering farmy and acid flavours.

Overall an interesting cheese to try, but not one that excited us.

Salers

#18 - Sec deux (made by Vendee Chevre)

This long rectangular flat brick, around the same size as the logs previously described, had a colourful mixed rind of geotrichum and blue, green and white moulds.  Approximately half of the cheese paste was glossy and ripened, with the centre still showing the firmer but still creamy lactic curd.  The rind was slightly dry but the paste had a creamy texture.  The broken down outer paste had a sweeter flavour and even smoother texture.  

Chevre sec deux.

#17 - unnamed Buche (made by Vendee Chevre)

This un-named goats cheese log (it was simply labelled generically as a "buche") had an ash coating and a geotrichum rind.  It looks to have been matured more than the buche semi-affinage mentioned earlier and was also saltier.  The outer 1/3 of the cheese showed glossy breakdown.  A nice creamy, smooth texture, with more of a goaty/caproic acid flavour (but still in balance and pleasant).  Finishes with a spicy, black pepper after taste.

Tasty local buche.

#16 – Cremeurs (made by Vendee Chèvre)

Oval shaped cheese, with mixed rind (appears to be geotrichum and penicillium/blue mould).  Substantial ripening/ breakdown inside the rind leaving about half the cheese in unripened.  Rind is firm to bite but tender.  Texture is creamy, and there is a slightly spicy aftertaste with a hint of blue mould.    

Cremeurs, made by Vendee Chevre

#15 – Buche semi-affinage (made by Vendee Chèvre)

Small log with thin covering of white mould with mild wrinkling (looks like geotrichum).  Acidic curd is slightly drying when first tried, but it then becomes nice and creamy.  A little bit of ripening around the edges of the cheese but no real rind has developed yet.  Clean, fresh, zesty, light.  Can spread this onto your bread.    

Buche semi-affinage, by Vendee Chevre

First trip to France!

Finally we have got around to updating this blog.

In July we took our first trip to France, to visit Andrew’s godparents in the Vendée area of the Pays de Loire region.  We stayed in a small town near the coast and were able to take a few trips to some local markets.  At the biggest market we went to, in Challans, we purchased cheeses from a couple of local stalls.

Vendee Chèvre.  A small local prodcuer who was selling their cheeses direct at the market.  All were Fromage de chèvre au lait cru – raw goats milk cheeses.  The cheeses were just labelled with a simple description – buche, sec, affine etc.  There were about 6 types of cheese and a few fresh fromage frais type products available.  When Noël told the lady at the counter we were cheese makers from New Zealand, she gave us a few extra cheeses to take away!

Fromagerie Beillevaire – Maître Fromager.  A large cheese monger based in Machecoul (between Challans and Nantes), this large counter had many different types of cheese from around France.  They run tours of their cheese factory and maturing rooms but we did not have time to fit this in during the week.

What will follow is a flurry of new cheeses, raising our count from a measly 14!

Vendee Chevre stand at Challans market

Our daily lunch on holiday included all these cheeses.