Holy Goat La Luna

Holy Goat have done it again - producing what is probably a one-off but certainly something I just couldn't pass by.

Cheese Maker: Holy Goat
Cheese Type: La Luna Baby wrapped in Chestnut Leaves
Location: Sutton Grange Organic Farm, Victoria

Now you understand why I just had to have this.

Wrapped in chestnut leaves is a round of their La Luna Baby. It's quite a delicate package, the scent is just intoxicating - those intense mushroom notes floating off the leaves.

Carefully peeling the leaves back you are rewarded with quite an oozing cheese - it's at it's peak ripeness and will be perfect on the cheese platter tonight.

La Luna is a goat cheese with a wrinkled yeast rind - there are similar aromas to that found with washed rinds. At this stage, it's extremely creamy with an lingering flavour, somewhat nutty coupled with slight citrus.

Usually La Luna is available in three forms - Baby (this one without the leaves), Full Moon (a barrel shaped) and La Luna Ring (similar to a ring donut). It's interesting to note how the flavours do alter depending on the shape.


Originally published here

Holy Goat Piccolo

I first had the chance to sample this next cheese back in November at the Slow Food Farmers' Market - unfortunately as it was only a one-off at the time I really couldn't post about it.

It was indeed a happy moment when at the recent market, the cheese is now in commercial production and when you see them you'll know why I loved them at first sight.

Cheese Maker: Holy Goat
Cheese Type: Piccolo
Location: Sutton Grange Organic Farm, Victoria

Sold in a rather uninspiring but practical plastic container, 10 to a box, are these thimble-sized goat cheese bites.

Only weighing around 6 grams (0.2 ounces) they are resplendent in a soft,white mould which tends to become fuzzier the longer they sit.

Besides just eating them as is, they are the perfect size to stuff into zucchini flowers - something I hopefully will be able to repeat come the flower season.


Originally published here

Holy Goat Mature Skyla

I'm back with another Holy Goat cheese - this time it's a hard goat cheese called Skyla.

Cheese: Holy Goat Mature Skyla
Location: Sutton Grange Organic Farm, Victoria

Unwrapped you'll find a cheese almost devoid of any moisture and covered in a whitish rippled skin - this white mould skin will darken with age and intensify in flavour but it's perfectly edible so don't go cutting it off.

When sliced you can clearly see the darker ring surrounding the typical white goat cheese. There's a bite to this but no more than a good aged cheddar - it does tend to dissolve in the mouth and the skin is somewhat buttery for want of a better word. It slices easily without being brittle at all. It also shows good balance between saltiness and acidity - neither taking away from the purity of the milk.

Possible uses - served as in as part of a cheese platter, sliced thickly and baked into savoury tarts or as I did with this particular cheese, grated for the Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Muffins.

Originally published here

Holy Goat Fromage Frais

Time to return to Holy Goat and visit another cheese from their range - this time a Fromage Frais.

Cheese: Holy Goat Fromage Frais
Location: Sutton Grange Organic Farm, Victoria

Fromage Frais means "fresh cheese" and in this case it refers to a soft goats milk curd. It's made in a similar manner to cheese but once the rennet is added the curds are not allowed to set, instead they are agitated to give a texture and appearance somewhat like yoghurt.

The first thing you'll notice, as is the case with goat cheese, is that it's very white. It has a look of being quite pure and clean.

Tastewise, it has a slight tang with those goat characteristics but it would equally at home in a savoury or sweet situation.

This cheese is also low in saturated fats.

It has good holding characteristics and is just perfect for slathering on bread - try it on a thick slice of toasted brioche with raspberry jam.

Other ideas: as part of the filling for Stuffed Zucchini Flowers; use it in dips; add to cheesecake filling; toss through cooked pasta to form part of the sauce. I'm sure you can come up many more ideas.

Originally published here

Holy Goat Ripe Pandora

Holy Goat was the subject of my first cheese post so I thought it might be time to return and highlight another cheese from their range - the intriguingly named Pandora. You'll find upon opening this Pandora, that only good things lie inside.

Cheese: Holy Goat Ripe Pandora
Location: Sutton Grange Organic Farm, Victoria

As mentioned previously, Holy Goat is located at Sutton Grange, in central Victoria around Bendigo, at the foothills of Mount Alexander. It's an organic farm and the milk is obtained solely from their own goat herd which is a cross of British Alpine and Swiss Saanen goats. The cheese is made using traditional farmhouse techniques and based on French soft curd styles.

Once you pick up the packet you'll immediately notice quite a bit of give - an almost jelly like sensation. It's very similar in feel to the Udder Delights Goat Camembert.

Once removed from it's silver wrapper, it looks quite normal - but looks in this case are deceiving.

There is only one way to eat this cheese. Whatever you do - don't approach it like a regular cheese. To get inside, you must cut out a lid - simply run the knife around the top edge to reveal the contents.

You do not eat the rind - it's merely the vessel that contains the gloriously viscous cheese that you spoon out and savour.

Creamy, without any of those bitter goat elements, rich without being cloying, it's a cheese you can enjoy without any feelings of bloating. You just might find yourself scraping the sides to ensure you've garnered every morsel.

Originally published here

Holy Goat Mature Veloute

There's a lot of good things said about our produce so I thought I might explore some of the items we should justifiably be proud of.

Cheese is a slightly contentious product, centred upon the debate about raw milk cheese - here in Australia we aren't allowed to produce cheese from raw milk and up until recently there has been bans on the importation of raw milk cheese (exceptions to this were the hard-cooked curd cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano). The laws have been relaxed a little and we can now get some raw milk cheese, it's still a risky venture for the importers. Lovers of Roquefort know the pain.

With the limitations of the production of certain cheese, we still produce some fine dairy products. For my first cheese, I'll be showing an organic goat's cheese produced here in my home state of Victoria.

Cheese Maker - Holy Goat

Cheese Name - Mature Veloute

Location - Sutton Grange Organic Farm, Victoria

Hand made in the French-style from an Organic Certified (Level A) Goat herd. Slow lactic acid fermentation combines with hand ladling into individual forms where the cheese is allowed to drain purely under the effect of gravity.

Veloute is described as a "barrel shaped cheese with a white mould surface and delicate flavour at 3 weeks which becomes more complex and nutty as it matures between 3-10 weeks"

I particularly enjoy the mushroom aroma and taste from the white mould rind (very similar to Camembert), there's a bit of that goat cheese tang at the back of the palate but it's wrapped in the creaminess of the cheese.

Originally published here