I have a new favorite cheese! I went to the cheesemonger (fromager) last week to get cheese for a dinner party. By the way, I love going to the fromagerie and getting the fromager’s advice.
In this particular case, I told him what cheeses I already had (a Roquefort and a Camembert). I mentioned how I like Reblochon (I haven’t blogged about it yet but will).
He pointed to a soft medium sized round goat cheese, and said, in almost a whisper, this is what you are looking for. It is like a Reblochon but made with goat’s milk. Then he further whispered to me that it can only be made on the farm. As a result it is not widely available.
The flavor is definitely a goat cheese. It is strong but not overpowering (I like strong cheese). It’s creamy. It is everything I want in a cheese!
As a practical matter, Chevrotin cheese can only come from herds consisting of a minimum of 80% Alpine breed goats. The cheese must also be made of one herd of goats. The Chevrotin was awarded the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in 2002.
If you like Reblochon, try this cheese! I am going back to tell my fromager that I loved it and I am going to buy some more!
Aside: I did go elsewhere to a very highly regarded fromagerie and asked for a “goat Reblochon” (since at the time I couldn’t remember the name Chevrotin) and they gave me Le Petit Fiancé – it seems to be Reblochon-like cheese, but it wasn’t as good. Before I post on it specifically though, I’ll give it another chance.
Maman & Fille 