Goat's milk cheeses
Bright, tangy and white: chevre, Valencay, Garrotxa, Banon and the goat cheeses of the Mediterranean.
Goat's milk cheese is white, fresh-tasting and often tangy, with a faint note of the animal that grows with age. Goats thrive on rough, dry ground where cows cannot, so their cheeses come from the hills of the Mediterranean, the Loire, the Alps, the Canary Islands and the Andes. Chèvre is French for goat and for its cheese. Valençay, Crottin de Chavignol, Banon, Garrotxa, Majorero and Norway's geitost are among the best known.
Why it tastes as it does
Goats turn the carotene in grass into colourless vitamin A, so their milk and cheese stay bright white. Goat's milk has small fat globules and more short- and medium-chain fatty acids, such as caproic, caprylic and capric acids, named from capra, Latin for goat. These give the familiar goaty flavour, mild in very fresh cheese and stronger as it ages. The curd is more delicate than that of cow's milk, which suits the slow lactic set used for most French goat cheeses.
Seasons and shapes
Goats have a natural breeding season, so traditional goat cheese is best from spring to autumn, and many French farms stop making it over the winter. Banon, from Provence, is wrapped in chestnut leaves tied with raffia. Spain's Garrotxa, from Catalonia, has a grey, downy rind and a smooth, mild paste. Majorero, from Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, is rubbed with paprika, oil or gofio. Norway's geitost is a caramel-brown cheese made from goat's whey and milk.
Beyond Europe
Goats are kept far more widely than cows across Africa and Asia, but much of their milk is drunk rather than made into cheese. Morocco's jben, a fresh cheese often made from goat's milk, is sold in country markets and eaten with bread, olive oil and honey. Mexico and Chile have farmhouse goat cheeses, and the United States has a strong craft tradition led by cheeses such as Humboldt Fog. In India, the Dogra kalari of Jammu is sometimes made from goat's milk, and goat-milk paneer is made on a small scale by farm dairies.
Worth knowing
- Valençay: Ashed pyramid of the Loire
- Crottin de Chavignol: Small goat drum, eaten young or old
- Sainte-Maure de Touraine: Ashed log with a straw at its heart
- Banon: Provençal cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves
- Garrotxa: Catalan cheese with a grey, downy rind
- Majorero: Canary Islands cheese rubbed with paprika
- Brunost: Norwegian geitost, caramel-brown
- Humboldt Fog: Californian goat cheese with a line of ash
Good to know
- Fresh goat cheese keeps about a week once opened; aged ones last longer.
- Roll fresh logs in herbs, ash or cracked pepper, or warm them on toast.
- Sancerre, the white wine of Chavignol, is the classic partner for crottin.
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Goat on EveryCheese
The cheeses written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreRicotta
A fresh Italian whey cheese made by reheating leftover proteins from other cheesemaking batches.Sheep · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇹🇷 Turkey and 1 moreBasket cheesesepet peyniri
A fresh, unsalted or lightly salted whey and curd cheese shaped in reed baskets from the Aegean coast.Goat · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKashkavalkaşkaval
A semi-hard yellow cheese from cow, sheep, or goat milk, popular across the Balkans and Turkey.Cow · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceRocamadourRòcamador
A small, soft goat's-milk cheese from southwest France with a protected status.Goat · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMizithraμυζήθρα
A fresh Greek whey cheese made from sheep or goat milk, eaten soft or dried for grating.Sheep · Fresh · Sweet and caramel
🇫🇷 FranceSainte-Maure de Touraine
A soft-ripened goat's milk cheese from Touraine, aged with a straw through its center.Goat · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreTomme
A low-fat alpine cheese from France and Switzerland, often made from skimmed milk.Cow · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceFaisselle
A fresh, very soft French cheese strained in a faisselle mold, made from cow, goat, or sheep milk.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceRigotte de Condrieu
A small, soft goat cheese from the Lyonnaise region with a white mold rind.Goat · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇦🇲 ArmeniaMotalմոթալ
A soft, brined Armenian cheese aged in leather bags with wild thyme.Sheep · Brined · Milky and fresh
🇪🇸 SpainMajorero
A semi-hard goat milk cheese from Fuerteventura with a nutty, buttery taste.Goat · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇵🇹 Portugal and 1 moreRequeijão
A versatile dairy product ranging from whey cheese to creamy spreads across Portugal and Brazil.Cow · Whey · Milky and fresh
🇮🇹 ItalyCaciotta
A mild Italian cheese made from cow, sheep, goat, or buffalo milk.Cow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇨🇳 ChinaRubing乳饼
A firm, acid-set fresh goat cheese from Yunnan that holds its shape when cooked.Goat · Fresh · Salty
🇪🇸 SpainMallorcaformatge mallorquí
A semi-hard cow, goat or sheep milk cheese from the Balearic Islands with an olive-oiled rind.Cow · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇮🇹 ItalyCaprino
An Italian goat's-milk cheese made in fresh or aged styles across several regions.Goat · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇬🇷 GreeceKatiki DomokouΚατίκι Δομοκού
A fresh, soft goat and sheep milk cheese from central Greece.Goat · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceBrousse
A lumpy whey cheese from Provence and Corsica made from cow, sheep or goat milk.Cow · Whey · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceCouronne lochoise
A soft, ash-coated goat cheese from the Loire Valley shaped like a ring.Goat · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇪🇬 EgyptEgyptian cheeseجبنة (gebna)
A broad category of cheeses central to Egyptian cuisine, ranging from fresh white types to aged blue varieties.Cow · Fresh · Salty
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Rocamadour: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mizithra: grongar, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ricotta: 8w9d, CC0, source
- Sainte-Maure de Touraine: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rigotte de Condrieu: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tomme: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Faisselle: Véronique PAGNIER, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Motal: Barseghian Lilia, CC0, source
- Majorero: Mumumío ( www.mumumío.com ), CC BY 2.0, source
- Basket cheese: E4024, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Caprino: Number55, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kashkaval: Nnikolce, Public domain, source
- Requeijão: Comte0, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Katiki Domokou: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Caciotta: Peachyeung316, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Brousse: Roland Darré, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rubing: Pratyeka, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mallorca: Tamorlan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Couronne lochoise: Thomon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Egyptian cheese: Tour d'Afrique, CC BY 2.0, source