For all those who say they don’t like goat cheese, I have some candidates to change their mind. How can you not love these beauties? I get why people dislike those chalky, overly tart fresh chèvres that smell like a goat barn. I don’t like them either. But goat cheese can be silky, sweet, nutty and mellow, with an aroma like pale caramel. These three gems (one is mixed milk) are absolutely worth the hunt—each an original creation made by a single producer.
Let’s start with Caciottona di Capra al Fieno (upper left) , an organic goat cheese from northeast Italy. Latteria Perenzin, a century-old family creamery, is the producer of this totally captivating wheel. The five-pound cheese is coated in local organic hay, which makes the interior smell like sun-dried tarragon and, mysteriously, like cinnamon. Matured for about three months, the cheese is semifirm, sweet in the finish, perfectly salted and delightfully herbaceous. Cacio and caciotta are generic words for cheese in Italian; caciottona suggests a cheese that’s on the large side. According to local lore, cheesemakers would bury their wheels in hay to hide them from the prying eyes of their neighbors or—alternative story—to hide them from the taxman. Either way, the result makes it a tradition worth perpetuating. Say cahtch-oh-TO-na.
Goaty goodness: Patacabra
Patacabra, from the region of Aragon in Spain, near Zaragoza, is a washed-curd goat cheese, a rare style for Spain. (Rare in the U.S., too.) Think of it as something like a goat Taleggio—semisoft, supple and creamy, with an open interior and a crunchy reddish rind with streaks of gray. Made in the shape of a flattened log, it yields handsome elongated ovals when sliced. It is less funky than Taleggio, with crème fraîche and lemon notes merging with a hint of dulce de leche sweetness. These five-pound bricks, matured for about 45 days, are hauntingly good when in good condition—alas, not always the case.
Alisios (upper right) is the mixed-milk cheese in this trio, a blend of 70 percent cow’s milk with 30 percent goat’s milk. From Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, it resembles Majorero, the island’s most famous export and one of my favorite goat cheeses. On the outside: Spanish pimentón, which subtly perfumes the interior with that earthy, peppery scent. The paste is semifirm, butter colored and notably tangy, but with a balancing sweetness. I find this cheese hard to stop eating and was not surprised to learn that it won a Super Gold at the World Cheese Awards a few years ago. Forever Cheese, the New York importer, began bringing it to the U.S. about three years ago. Gracias! A two-pound wheel matured for about five months, it is exceptionally well priced.
Look for Caciottona di Capra al Fieno, Patacabra and Alisios at these retailers.