There are two main categories of cheese-making, distinguished by how the liquid milk is turned into a solid curd.  The two major classes of cheeses are enzymatic and lactic.  Enzymatic cheese-making is where an enzyme is added to the milk to coagulate it within the course of about an hour.  90% of the world’s cheeses are made in this fashion.  Lactic cheese-making is where particular strains of lactic acid producing bacteria are added to the milk and is left overnight at room temperature, the fermentation of the milk’s lactose into lactic acid precipitating the coagulation of the milk into curds and whey, and very little enzymatic coagulant, if any, is added. 

Fresh goat cheese, or chevre, falls into this second category.  The fresh goat curd is pretty fragile and must be treated with care if the final cheese is going to be of high-quality.  Most large scale producers will use pumps to transfer the curds and whey into cloth bags where it can drain and the remaining drained curd can be molded, while artisanal cheese makers insist that this work be done by hand.  The difference in the finished cheese is very noticeable, where pumped curd will have a pasty, sticky mouth-feel and hand-ladled curd will have a mouth-feel that’s not pasty at all and leaves your mouth clean when you swallow.  This is one of the key secrets to the success of the larger-scale artisan producers of goat cheese that we carry at Andronico’s like Laura Chenel and Cypress Grove.  We know that you can really taste the difference and we’re proud to offer top quality cheeses from these local artisans!