Le Chevrot
- Producer
- Sevre-et-Belle Cooperative
- Country
- France
- Region
- Loire
- Size
- 2.5 ins diameter, 2 ins high
- Weight
- 6oz
- Website
- Milk
- Goat
- Classification
- Firm
- Rennet
- Microbial
- Rind
- Mold Ripened
Made in the Loire Valley, near Poitou, in France, Le Chevrot is produced by the Cooperative Sèvre-et-Belle in the village of Celles-sur-Belle.
This region has been long renowned for its high quality goat cheese. Goats were first introduced to the area with the arrival of the Saracens in the eighth century together with their recipes for goat's cheeses. Fortunately for us, both the goats and the cheese knowledge remained after the invaders were forced to leave.
Le Chevrot is produced in both pasteurized and raw milk versions, although it is only the pasteurized cheeses that are available in the United States.
Aged for at least two weeks, cheeses have an edible, natural, geotricum rind that gives the Le Chevrot a wrinkled appearance. The interior texture is smooth, dense and quite firm.
Cheeses can be sold either young or aged.
Younger versions have a milder flavor that is reminiscent of herbs, barnyard, toasted nuts and hay. The texture has a higher moisture content and is quite dense while the color of the interior paste is a bone-white, becoming darker towards the rind.
Flavors in older cheeses intensify, while still remaining balanced, and often develop hints of caramel. The flavors of barnyard and goat become stronger while the texture of the cheese becomes drier over time, and the color of the paste darkens.
Ultimately, it is not uncommon for these types of cheeses to become suitable for grating.
