The season of goat cheese

"We work primarily with farmstead cheeses. Farmstead cheeses are produced on a farm using only raw milk from its own herd. Goat milk is unfortunately not available in large quantities all year round because goats have a milking cycle. In the winter they give little milk. And before they lamb, they even go dry for one to two months. Fortunately, in the sunny months there is a milk peak and a lot of cheese can be made."

Goats not only produce a lot of milk in the spring, it's also the best quality. "Spring milk is full of nutrients and particularly tasty. That's because the goats are outside a lot and eat mostly fresh grass instead of dry feed," Frederic points out.

Goat cheese: delicious and versatile

Goat cheese has a different taste than cheese made from cow's milk. But goat cheese also comes in many varieties: creamy, soft, mild, tangy and crumbly. The character of goat cheese is very dependent on the method by which it is made. The type of fungus used, the maturation period, the origin of the goats, the salt content... these are all factors that determine the taste and texture of goat cheese.

The power of the crust

As goat cheese matures, a rind forms. If you graft fungal cultures onto the cheese, you get a fungal rind. At Kaasaffineurs van Tricht they pay a lot of attention to the rind of the goat cheese. "The rind is very decisive for the taste of the goat cheese. You absolutely have to eat the rind with it," says Frederic.

Suggestions from Frederic

A goat cheese in high demand is the gray-blue "Neteling". The Neteling is a pyramid-shaped goat cheese sprinkled with a layer of salted (edible) charcoal ash. The inspiration for this cheese comes from the French cheese Valençay, but it is made in Lichtaart and was named after the river Nete that runs near the cheese farm.

Another goat cheese with a special rind is the "Juliette". This cheese was developed by Kaasaffineurs Van Tricht last year as part of their 50th anniversary. It bears the name of Frederic's grandmother who started the business at the Fruithoflaan in 1970. It is a creamy goat cheese from Limburg with annatto around the rind. This is a natural orange coloring made from the seeds of the orlean tree. In terms of flavor, annatto can be described as earthy, musky and slightly peppery. It is very unusual to use this dye in goat cheese, but it works. So worth tasting.

• kaasaffineurs-vantricht.be