Le Trèfle du Perche

Walk into any fromagerie in France during goat cheese season (April to November) and you will be faced with a tempting array of wrinkly rectangles, fresh drums, blue mold covered cylinders, two-toned cones, grey pyramids, white diamonds, discs wrapped in leaves, and a distinctive four-leaf clover, le Trèfle du Perche.

In the French cheese world, this one is fairly recent creation.
Back in 1999 a group of 7 artisan cheesemakers in the northern part of the Loire Valley and the southern part of Normandy established l’Association des Fromagers Caprins Perche et Loir (after numerous meetings involving copious amounts of local cheese and wine I like to think) and created a new goat cheese. Their goal was to come up with a fromage de chèvre that would be instantly recognizable and that would become associated with their region. During its inception, one of the members spotted an unusual, four-leaf clover shaped clay cheese mold in a local rural museum and the rest is history.

Beneath its thin rind of blue-gray ash and mold, the snowy white interior is rich, creamy and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Depending on its age, the flavors can range from fresh milk and hazelnuts, to peppery with a long finish.

Le Trèfle, which means "clover" in French, has been in production since 2005 and is currently made by a dozen farmers in 4 French departments; the Eure-et-Loir, the Loir-et-Cher, the Sarthe and the Orne. This little goat cheese is unpasteurized, with a minimum affinage* of 10 days and a maximum of about 1 month. In 2012 the l’Association des Fromagers Caprins Perche et Loir (AFCPL) applied for an AOC for their cheese. I'm wishing them the best of luck!

A few wine suggestions to pair with le Trèfle; a Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley if you prefer white, or a Gamay from the Loire Valley if you prefer red.





*ageing





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Le Mellois

Sometimes love comes at a price, and that is definitely the case with le Mellois.

But it's a price I'm willing to pay.



Every time I'm craving another little square of this delicious chèvre, I have to brave an encounter with the unpleasant (to put it mildly) cheese lady* at the Bayeux market.

Since discovering her wonderful cheese truck last winter I've tried my best to charm her, but with no success.
Maybe it's my accent? Maybe it's my smile? Maybe she's just in a bad mood all the time?
Who knows.

When the cheese is this good, who cares.



Le Mellois doesn't hide the fact that it's a goat cheese, in flavor or in fragrance - it's all around very rich and goaty. The texture is meltingly soft and smooth, and also very creamy and buttery.
In a word - luscious. And highly addictive.

This unpasteurized fromage de chèvre is produced on farms in le Mellois region of the Poitou-Charentes.
It can be eaten quite young, slightly mature or very mature - frais, demi-sec or sec.  I've tasted both the demi-sec and sec versions, and they're equally delicious.

Enjoy with white wine such as Sancerre.



*She also sells the most amazing Normandy salt butter.
But every time I ask for some, she tries to sell me a piece that is already past its expiration date, and every time I smile, hand it back to her and ask for a fresher piece. 
As I said, it's a price I'm willing to pay.




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Savory Mini Muffins

When it comes to apéro nibbles I have but one requirement - they should not be fussy.

Actually, now that I think about it, I might have a few more...
Nibbles shouldn't require utensils, they can be eaten in only one or two bites, and of course they should be delicious.
Oh, and one last thing...they shouldn't take hours and hours to make.

Luckily there are a myriad of recipes out there that meet my strict requirements, and these mini muffins are one of them.

I have British chef, Delia Smith to thank for this recipe. These savory little muffins are bursting with a sweet onion and rich chèvre flavor.

This is my adapted recipe.

Savory Mini Muffins
Makes 24 muffins

For the muffins:

• 10 ounces (275 g) all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 8 ounces (225 ml) milk
• a little butter for greasing the muffin pan
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

For the filling:

• 4 ounces (100 grams) fresh goat's cheese, broken into little pieces
• 4 ounces (100 grams) red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary, plus 24 small sprigs for garnishing
• 1 ounce butter

1. Begin by melting the butter in a small saucepan and softening the onion in it for about 5 minutes. Allow onions to cool.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F (200°C)
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt on to a large plate, then take a large mixing bowl and sift the mixture again, this time into the bowl. You want to give the flour a good airing.
4. Beat one egg together with the milk.
5. Next, fold the egg and milk mixture into the flour, using the minimum number of folding movements. (ignore the lumpy look of the mixture at this stage and don't over mix.)
6. Gently mix the onion along with the goats' cheese and chopped rosemary into the muffin mixture, folding in, as before, with as few strokes as possible.
7. Spoon the mixture straight into greased mini muffin tins. You can pile the mixture quite high.
8. Beat the second egg and brush the muffin surfaces with it, then top with a sprig of rosemary.
9. Bake them for about 20 minutes, or until well risen and golden.
10. Remove the muffins from the tins to a rack.
11. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Previous recipes: Spiced Party Pecans, Smoked Salmon in Endive Leaves and  Herbed Chèvre
Bonus recipes: Puffy Cheese Straws and a Savory Cake aux Olives

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Herbed Chèvre

You didn't think that I would share a bunch of fabulous nibbles and snacks recipes without including at least one that was made almost entirely of cheese, now did you?

About 15 years ago I tried this recipe from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins (I love these ladies!), and it became an instant favorite.
It is super rich and flavorful, and is always one of the first things to disappear when served at a party or an apéro dînatoire.

Herbed Chèvre
makes 2 cups

• 1 log (12 ounces) Montrachet or other soft mild chèvre
• 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream
• 3 bunches (about 12 stems each) chives, finely snipped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1. Break the log of Montrachet into 4 pieces and process in a food processor fitted with a steel blade while slowly adding the cream. Process until smooth. Scrape into a mixing bowl. Whisk in the chives, thyme, pepper, lemon juice and zest. Refrigerate several hours to allow flavors to blend.  
2. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with crusty bread...

I've also tried it using my homemade chèvre, but without the cream and by simply mixing it in a bowl with a spoon, instead of in a food processor. The flavor is more tangy and the texture is much lighter, but it is just as delicious.

Previous recipes: Spiced Party Pecans and Smoked Salmon in Endive Leaves
Bonus recipe: Savory Palmiers

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La Fête du Fromage - La Clochette

The cheeses that I discover for my French cheese tasting project, now in its fourth year, never cease to amaze me. There seems to be an endless array of alluring shapes and sizes to delight the consumer, and my most recent find is definitely proof of that.

Voilà La Clochette - "the little bell."



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Photo du Jour - Chèvre des Corbières

"Cheese is probably the best of all foods, as wine is the best of all beverages." - Patience Gray Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Le Saint-Domnin de Provence

Why I love French cheese reason #191; le Saint-Domnin de Provence.
A cheese so divine that it deserves to be named after a saint.

Imagine a cheese that is lusciously creamy and meltingly soft on your tongue. It tastes slightly bitter and peppery with hints of tangy citrus and mild mushroom that linger on and on. All these flavors are then rounded out by the intriguing, almost imperceptible but not quite, essence of lavender.

I wish I could describe it more adequately.
Instead I'll just insist that you come to France and try it for yourself, because I don't think they export this heavenly little fromage.


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La Fête du Fromage - Le Galletout

My endless pursuit to taste every French cheese means that any time we take a trip in France, some of our holiday time must be devoted to tracking down a Fromagerie or two.  Or three.
I have a very patient husband.

Before each trip I try to do some research online, but it really is surprising how many cheese shops and cheese makers either don't have websites of their own or attempt to include up to date information, like opening days and times, on public websites run by the local Mairie.
So most of the time I just ask for recommendations from the locals.

During our morning of wine tasting at le Tasting Room in the Loire last October, the owner, Cathy, mentioned her favorite little Fromagerie in Saumur.  She couldn't remember the name or the address, but described where it was in relation to a couple of the well known landmarks in town.  I finally found the charming little shop, tucked back on a little lane between the river and la Place Saint-Pierre.

Being that we were in the Loire Valley, home to many famous fromages de chèvre, I expected a decent selection of goat's cheeses.

I was not disappointed.

Le Galletout was the first one that caught my eye.
It looked so intriguing; like a crumpled, pale mushroom cap or cloud of meringue.  I always seem to be attracted to unconventional looking cheeses.

Its flavor is sublime!  Cutting through the thin, bloomy rind reveals a dripping, oozing, velvety textured pâte that tastes like a goat's cheese, but not an overly strong, goaty one.  The perfectly balanced flavors are slightly tangy, with hints of soft citrus and milk. 

Le Galletout is an unpasteurized chèvre produced in the Lot, in southwestern France.  It can be eaten young and mild, after only two weeks of affinage, or it can be aged a little bit longer if a stronger flavor is preferred.

Pair with a Pouilly Fumé. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Le Petit Camelot

There are so many reasons to visit the Languedoc-Roussillon. The stunning scenery, the Mediterranean beaches, the Cassoulet, the wine.
And the cheese.

Not quite sure why I never bothered to buy a little disc or two of Le Petit Camelot before this week, especially after falling in love with their cool-looking, snake skin textured cheese, L'Écu, a couple of years ago.
It's sold at various fromageries in Béziers, Narbonne and Carcassonne, and wine/olive/produits du terroir shops in the region, so I have had the chance numerous times.

Better late than never, I always say.

Le Petit Camelot is produced on the farm where I was able to source the goat's milk to make my own cheese last week. After tasting this one I'm convinced that they produce some of the most delicate, delicious and delightful fromages de chèvre in the Languedoc.

The flavor is that of soft, fresh milk, with a slight tang, well-balanced and not at all goaty. I envision it spread on some walnut bread and drizzled with some acacia honey. Or maybe stuffed into ripe tomatoes and sprinkled with some minced chives and garlic.

But it was superb on its own - simple and sweet. Enjoyed with a glass of red wine from just down the road.

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La Fête du Fromage - Homemade Chèvre

Technically this is a French cheese. The milk came from French goats and it was made in France.
It is my French cheese. Homemade chèvre frais.

For the last year I've planned to make some of my own cheese and just never got around to doing it. Procrastination sometimes gets the best of me.
So when I was offered a couple of liters of extremely fresh goat's milk the other day, I grabbed some cheesecloth and a lemon and in just under two hours, voilà, I had cheese!
Creamy, snowy white, mild, delicious goat's cheese. Which I then dressed up with a bit of minced garlic and a sprinkling of herbes de Provence.


The process is so simple it's silly. And it makes me wonder what the heck took me so long to try it.

• 1 liter (1 quart) goat's milk - pasteurized or unpasteurized, but not ultra-pasteurized*
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 clove minced garlic
• a pinch or two of sea salt
• optional - minced herbs such as thyme, herbes de Provence, parsley, rosemary

1. Heat the milk over medium heat until it reaches 180 degrees F on a candy or meat thermometer. I used a meat thermometer because I couldn't find my candy thermometer in the deep, dark recesses of my kitchen utensil drawer.
2. Take the milk off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. The milk should begin to curdle immediately. You'll see the curds separate from the whey.
3. Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth - I used about 4 layers. You want to make sure that the curds don't get through.
4. Place over a large bowl to catch the whey and ladle the curds and whey into the cheesecloth lined colander.
5. Gather the corners of the cheesecloth together and hang from a wooden spoon over a deep bowl for about 60-90 minutes. The consistency will be similar to that of dry cottage cheese.


6. Transfer the curds to a bowl and fold in the salt and optional herbs. If it seems a bit dry you can stir in some whey to create a creamier texture, a teaspoon at a time.
7. Eat.

Your homemade chèvre can be stored in the fridge for 1 week in an airtight container. The texture becomes drier after a day or two, so I recommend eating it pretty quickly. Which you will want to do anyway.



*I used unpasteurized milk and heated it to 185 degrees F

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Flavors I Love

Crisp, fizzy Champagne. Sometimes with a splash of something sweet


Crispy-crunchy with coarse salt


Earthy morel mushrooms with perfectly cooked, creamy risotto


A peppery bite with summer-ripe tomatoes and crumbly Parmigiano


Warm, tangy chèvre and sweet caramelized onion jam


Creamy vanilla with a crunchy, sugar top


Sweet and tart

Soft, dark chocolate and chewy. Preferably with pecans Pin It

Sunday Links

I am the girl of 100 lists.*

France. Food. Light. Two very talented people. A delicious photography workshop in Gascony.

France. Wine. Chocolate. Two great guys in Paris. A very tempting tasting.

A collection of inspired and bold ideas. And another place to feed my blank journal/paper product addiction.

Come to a little village in the Corbières for 3 étoiles!

Fresh ricotta. I keep saying I'm going to try making it, and now I definitely will. Must try this chèvre as well.


bon dimanche!



*curious if anyone get this reference? Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Cathare

The Occitan Cross, the omnipresent symbol of the Languedoc, is displayed on everything from the regional flag, street signs, T-shirts and sweatshirts, key chains, bumper stickers, graffiti and even cheese. Yes, cheese.

Voilà Cathare.


This distinctive fromage de chèvre fermier was created in 1995 at La Ferme de Cabriole in the Lauragais. It is home to about 120 Saanen goats which graze in the pastures surrounding the farm for 8-10 months of the year and produce a whopping 2½-5 liters of milk a day, per goat.

Underneath the layer of ash lies a luscious, unpasteurized cheese with a creamy, velvety smooth, almost liquid texture that simply melts in your mouth. Cathare is sold after 2 weeks of affinage, resulting in a flavor that is mild, slightly buttery and salty, with soft hints of chèvre. As it ages, the goat flavor becomes more pronounced and the texture more firm and dry.

This is a truly delightful cheese and I can't recommend it more highly!

A dry white wine would be a good match. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Gloriotte

Spring and early summer offer a bounty of seasonal fromages de chèvre to enjoy. Chèvres from almost every corner of France: the Pyrénées, the Auvergne, the Poitou-Charentes, the Aveyron and the Savoie.
Many of these delightful cheeses are only available for a short time, so as the saying goes, Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May.

Introducing glorious Gloriotte! A sensational petit chèvre from the Loire.


I expected a bold and piquant flavor to come from a cheese with such an intense, goaty aroma and rough, rustic appearance. Boy was I wrong.
Gloriotte is mellow, fruity and sweet and its texture is smooth and a bit chalky. Drizzled with a bit of acacia honey - WOW - absolute heaven!

The most frustrating thing about Gloriotte is that I have to go either to Paris or the Loire Valley to purchase another delicious morsel. Or I could say that it gives me an excuse to make another trip up north.
(Ok, if I have to...)

Some white wine from the Loire would be a perfect match for this cheese. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - La Bonde de Gâtine

Another week. Another goat's cheese.
This is the fifth week in a row that I've tasted a fromage de chèvre for La Fête du Fromage.

Why so many goat's cheeses lately? Well, they just seem to be everywhere.
They come so many interesting shapes and sizes, and in all sorts of tempting textures and stages of affinage, I find that I just can't resist them.

And the most recent discovery, la Bonde de Gâtine, has proven itself to be irresistible!


La Bonde de Gâtine is produced on small farms in the marshy Gâtine region, in the picturesque Poitou-Charentes. It takes a full 2 liters of unpasteurized goat's milk to make one little, drum shaped cheese. A fact that is unmistakable when you bite into its ultra rich, dense, chalky and finely textured pâte.

A pleasant, fruity tang hits your taste buds first, followed by hazelnuts and a fair amount of saltiness. The crust is lightly sprinkled in ash and allowed to develop a layer of natural, edible mold during its 1-2 months of affinage, resulting in a sometimes fuzzy, blue-grey, wrinkly appearance.

This is a cheese to savor. Slowly.
It is so luxurious and full-bodied that a small morsel goes a long way. La Bonde de Gâtine is one that you must try!


Enjoy with a dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay, or a light red such as Beaujolais. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Le Chevrotin des Aravis

Picture a bucolic scene of hearty, chocolate brown Alpine goats grazing on lush green grasses and wildflowers, high up on the rocky slopes in the mountains of the Savoie region.
The creamy, fragrant, summer milk from these goats is used to make the heady flavored Chevrotin des Aravis or Le Chevrotin Savoie, as it is also known as.


In 2002 Le Chevrotin des Aravis was the 40th cheese to be awarded AOC status. This unpasteurized goat's cheese has been produced exclusively on small farms since the 17th century (some say 12th century) and is made in the same way as Reblochon. It is the 2nd smallest AOC cheese in terms of production after Banon à la Feuille.

It has a rich mushroom aroma and a soft, supple and fine texture. Chevrotin is aged in spruce wood and washed with saltwater several times a week, creating intense flavors that are spicy and nutty, as well as herbal and floral.

This is a unique, bold mountain chèvre that I highly recommended.

Enjoy with a glass of white Vin de Savoie or a red St. Joseph or Côtes du Rhône.

Traditionally the crust is drier that this one. I left it sitting in the car on a very hot day last week and it "matured" a bit. The strong cheese smell didn't dissipate for hours! Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - Chèvre Frais

Our local market boasts a hairy, wild looking guy who shows up in his battered van every week selling locally made chèvre and fresh eggs. He is actually very sweet and approachable, and yesterday gave me an extra piece of cheese as un petit cadeau. Needless to say, I'm enamored.

His little buttons of goat cheese are sold in four stages of affinage;
frais, mi-frais, mi-sec and sec. Over the last year I have tasted the frais and the mi-sec, so this week I decided to bring home one of each and do a little taste test.



The plump, snowy white chèvre frais is fresh, milky and tangy tasting. Fresh as in green grasses and tangy as in sour and citrusy. Its texture is fluffy and light, and it crumbles rather than slices when cut into.
This is the kind of chèvre that deserves to be drizzled with honey or served with a spoonful of fruit confiture. I can also imagine it spread thickly on a slice of rustic olive bread.



The chèvre mi-frais is also crumbly and is the tiniest bit chalky. Surprisingly, it is the mildest of the four. Its tangy and sour flavors are much more mellow than the chèvre frais and there is no hint of goatiness. It has a wonderful, rich mouthfeel and a sweet, milky flavor.



My favorite of the four is the chèvre mi-sec. It is the essence of a perfectly ripened, well balanced fermier goat cheese. It is very finely textured and quite chalky and the flavor starts out delicate and soft, then opens up into a rich, mildly salty and perfectly "goaty" goat cheese.



The most mature, smallest and wrinkliest of the four, chèvre sec, was my least favorite. It seemed too sour and ripe and overly infused with barnyard, goat flavors. The hints of mushroom and herbs were nice, but the other flavors took over. This cheese is buttery smooth and dense and I'm sure it has some fans. Just not me.


Along with the cheese taste test, I did a wine pairing taste test. Neither the Minervois red nor rosé worked with any of these chèvres. But the Vin de Pays d'Oc white from our local co-op, les Trois Blasons, was fantastic!



Just a reminder: Join me for the 8th Fête du Fromage International Cheese Tasting Event in May, please have your entries to me by May 13. I'll post the round-up on May 15.

Tell us why you chose this particular cheese. Tell us how it tasted. Tell us about its texture and aroma. Did you eat it on its own? Or with something? Did you drink anything special with your cheese? Would you recommend it or not? Is there something unusual or interesting about it?

• Photos are wonderful, but not necessary
• Entries must contain the words La Fête du Fromage and contain a link to Chez Loulou
• Posts should be written specifically for La Fête du Fromage and not entered in any other food blog event
• Please send the link to your post to louloufrance (at) gmail (dot) com with the words Fête du Fromage in the subject line

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La Fête du Fromage - Le Saint-Christophe

Heavily perfumed with the scent of woody herbs and goat-filled barnyards, Le Saint-Christophe is not for the faint of heart!

This is a bold cheese.

It looks innocent enough - a nice, soft white rind wrapped around a creamy, melting interior - mais attention, looks can be deceiving! One taste and your senses are hit with a blast of tantalizing, spicy and seductive flavors.
I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.

If you love assertive, intensely flavored goat's cheese, this is one that you must try.


Le Saint-Christophe is an unpasteurized goat's milk cheese, produced and matured on a farm near the small town of St-Christophe Vallon, in the Aveyron.

A glass of crisp Sauvignon Blanc or Sancerre would be a good match to this cheese's robust flavors.

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La Fête du Fromage - Le Razégou

About an hour drive northeast of the Minervois, nestled in the spectacular, rugged Haut-Languedoc, is one of the most picturesque villages in the region. Roquebrun has been nicknamed le Petit Nice as it sits smack dab in the middle of a balmy micro climate where citrus trees, cacti and various types of succulents proliferate.


In the rugged Mediterranean scrub land surrounding Roquebrun is a small farm where Le Razégou, un petit fromage de chèvre, is produced.
The aroma left no doubt that this was a goat's cheese, and it was obvious that it was a very fresh goat's cheese. Look at how it was oozing when I unwrapped it.

Le Razégou's flavor is very gentle and even though the aroma is heady, the flavor definitely isn't overly "goaty." What struck me the most when I tasted it is how delicate a cheese this is, and how its supple texture literally melts in your mouth.
Delicious!


We tasted it with Confit de Figues aux Noix (Fig and Walnut Jam), a special jam that Betty brought us, which is made to enjoy with fromages de chèvre. It was perfect!

It also paired beautifully with the local red, which has hints of the same garrigue herbs and grasses that are grazed on by the goats in Roquebrun.

Local cheese and local wine. An impeccable match.

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La Fête du Fromage - Le Crabot

There's a cheesemonger at the Olonzac market who has become a very valuable acquaintance.
While nibbling on some cheese samples at his stall one week we started talking and I told him about la Fête du Fromage. That was all it took for him to take me under his wing.

He now relishes in introducing me to something new or explaining in great detail what region or village the cheese comes from, who produces it, etc., all the while ignoring the line of customers as it builds up behind me.
Each week I struggle to translate the piles of information he flings at me in his rapid fire French. My note taking skills get better all the time.


This week he recommended le Crabot, an unpasteurized goat's milk cheese that is produced in the mountainous Ariège department in southwestern France, where it is aged for about 10 weeks in caves.

Le Crabot's buttery, nutty aroma is irresistible! And the flavor is even better; incredibly smooth and creamy with scrumptious notes of mushroom and hazelnut. Its texture is dense, chewy and very rich. And although its flavor is intense, it isn't strong, rather nice and well-rounded.

In case you haven't already guessed, I loved le Crabot! A glass of local red alongside only added to the enjoyment.



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