Chèvre
The French word for goat, used for any goat-milk cheese and especially the small lactic cheeses of the Loire.
Also: fromage de chèvre, goat cheese
Chèvre is French for goat, and in cheese shops it means goat-milk cheese. The classic French chèvres are small cheeses made by the slow lactic method, where milk with a little rennet sets over a day, is ladled into moulds and drains under its own weight. They are shaped as logs, pyramids, discs, buttons and bells: Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Valençay, Crottin de Chavignol, Pouligny-Saint-Pierre. Eaten young, they are fresh, tangy and moist; aged, they become dense and nutty, with a wrinkled rind of Geotrichum or a coat of ash. The bright white colour comes from goat milk, which has no orange carotene in its fat.