Ingredient: Pouligny-Saint-Pierre (Goats' cheese)
Category: Dairy- Cheese
Season: All
Pouligny-Saint-Pierre is a French goats'-milk cheese made in the Indre department of central France.
It's name is derived from the commune of Pouligny-Saint-Pierre in the Indre department where it was first made in the 19th century.
The cheese is distinctive, being pyramidal in shape and golden brown in colour with speckles of grey-blue mould, and is often known by the nicknames "Eiffel Tower" or "Pyramid".
It has a square base 6.5cm wide, is around 9cm high, and weighs 250g.
The central pâte is bright white with a smooth, crumbly texture that mixes an initial sour taste with salty and sweet overtones.
The exterior has a musty odour reminiscent of hay.
It is made exclusively from un-pasteurised milk.
Both fermier (farmhouse) and industriel (dairy) production is used.
The fermier bearing a green label, and industriel a red label.
It's region of production is relatively small, taking in only 22 communes.
Manufacture
The manufacture is typical of the great goats cheeses of the Loire Valley.
The coagulating milk is placed whole into moulds with holes to drain the whey.
It is then dried in a well-ventilated cellar with affinage of at least two weeks, although the best examples are left for up to five weeks.
Production now occurs all year round although farmhouse manufacturers produce between spring and autumn.
Pouligny-Saint-Pierre received AOC status in 1976 |