Goat's milk cheeses of the world

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

About this page

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.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Charolais: Jackydarne, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Pélardon: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Rocamadour: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Cabécou: Unknown author, Public domain, source

Crottin de Chavignol: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Pouligny-Saint-Pierre: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Sainte-Maure de Touraine: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Rigotte de Condrieu: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Chabichou: Mark Baker, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Feta: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Chevrotin: Benoît Prieur, CC0, source

Picodon: Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Selles-sur-Cher: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Tulum: E4024, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Caciotta: Peachyeung316, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Robiola: Andrea Marchisio, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Chavroux: Tangopaso, Public domain, source

Cathare: Paul Munhoven, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Couronne lochoise: Thomon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Bucheron: Quinn Dombrowski, CC BY-SA 2.0, source

Goat's milk cheeses