Whatever they are doing at Fromagerie P. Jacquin to make this gorgeous, glorious goat cheese, I wish they’d reveal it. Is it the Loire Valley microclimate or simply French savoir-faire? Maybe it’s the expertise that comes from making the same cheeses for 65 years. Whatever, this chèvre has it all: good looks, luscious texture, big mushroomy aroma. To be honest, I’m often disappointed by goat cheeses in this style—they can be chalky or dense and lacking in scent—but this beauty is a pure delight.
Tomme de Chèvre Grand-Mère Adrienne is its cumbersome name, which many merchants shorten to Tomme Grand-Mère or Chèvre Grand-Mère. I’m presuming Granny Adrienne is part of the Jacquin clan, as this small creamery is still family owned. Its specialty is the classic Loire Valley PDO goat cheeses, like Valençay and Sainte-Maure. These are young raw-milk cheeses that can’t be sold in the U.S. (Here, raw-milk cheeses must be at least 60 days old.) Fortunately, the creamery has adapted some of its recipes to pasteurized milk so we can enjoy its products in the U.S.
Tomme Grand-Mère—let’s call it that—is a one-kilo wheel (roughly two pounds) with a thin, delicate ashed rind dusted with white mold. You can see the the softening interior, known as the cream line, just underneath. The mushroom scent is enticing and even more pronounced when you get the cheese in your mouth. The texture is creamy, not clingy; the flavors are balanced and mellow, with no bitterness or goaty quality and just the right amount of salt.
It’s hard to overstate how challenging it is to get fragile cheeses like this to California, where I live, in good condition. Especially now, with the domestic trucking business practically in meltdown, I’m astonished that these wheels look so good. The cost is higher than it was six years ago, when I last bought Tomme Grand-Mère ($29.99 a pound versus $25.99 a pound) but I’m surprised the price hike wasn’t worse.
Stephanie Ciano, vice president of international purchasing for World’s Best Cheese, a major importer-distributor, says freight costs continue to soar. Thank you, Covid. Thank you, Putin.
“I would say logistics is the number-one reason we are having inflation,” said Ciano in an e-mail, which I’ve edited. “It’s very difficult to find drivers, and wages are going up. Fuel surcharges are through the roof. The freight to get goods to the consolidation points has doubled since pre-pandemic. The cost of packaging goes up because it’s shipped to the producers. Even ocean freight has doubled compared to pre-pandemic. We mostly use our own trucks and drivers, but because of the driver shortage, if someone calls out sick, a route doesn’t go out. We’ve had new trucks on order for almost a year. This shortage of drivers, trucks and truck parts for repairs makes freight more expensive and service much worse. It seems crazy that we would be paying double the freight for far worse service, but there it is.”
Ciano says the ocean-freight situation isn’t expected to improve until late 2022 or early 2023. And it’s hard to see how the trucking crisis eases until fuel costs retreat. So, cheese lovers, we could be looking at some costly cheese boards in the months to come.
Look for Tomme de Chèvre Grand-Mère at these retailers. The creamery also makes a truffled version of this cheese, which I haven’t tried. The retail list includes stores that carry the truffled cheese as well.