The secrets of a good goats’ cheese
Yum… how tasty a Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine is, when you cut off a big, round slice. Mouth-watering! But what are the secrets lying behind the production of this star of the cheese plate?
Cabri au Lait educational farm
To answer the inescapable question “how’s it made?” (a question we ask ourselves more and more, in fact, about what we put on our plates, and so much the better), there is nothing simpler. In between a visit to a château and a bike ride, the Passerelles site in Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine is a chance to see a very comprehensive exhibition about this cheese that proudly bears the name of its home town. And it’s well worth combining it with a visit to the Cabri au Lait educational farm, especially if you have the children with you. Claire and Sébastien welcome visitors every morning from March to December (except on Thursday and Sunday). You can buy some cheese and also visit the farm.
You can even reserve your visit to the Cabri au Lait farm online on their website.
Goats’ cheese: this way for the best recipes!
Perhaps these few lines have made you feel peckish. In an emergency situation, just take a slice of bread, a piece of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, and Bob’s your uncle. It’s quite basic, but diabolically effective.
If you’re looking for something a bit more complex, how about toast with finely sliced rounds of cheese, with a little honey and aromatic herbs added when you take it out of the oven. Serve with chives, for instance, and a side salad. Delicious!
And for full-scale recipe ideas? Just put on the old apron, roll up your sleeves and get to it:
- Cherry tomato mini-tarts & sainte-maure-de-touraine
- Pithiviers “tapée” pears & sainte-maure-de-touraine
- Courgette clafoutis, gratin, quiche or lasagne & sainte-maure-de-touraine
- Leek & sainte-maure-de-touraine tart
- Pizza, buckwheat pancake and croque-monsieur topped with goats’ cheese
- Savoury goats’ cheese cake & tomato confit
- Sainte-maure-de-touraine ravioli in pesto sauce.
And to wash it all down, don’t forget to take home a few good bottles of wine from Touraine. Vouvray and Montlouis for dry and semi-dry wines, Chinon or Bourgueil for reds and rosés. There are over 100 wine cellars open to visitors, so you are sure to find the perfect food-wine match. Many of them are also a chance to visit the famous troglodyte caves, where the finest future vintages mature in silence.