10/14/2026
Ever since I laid my eyes on a photo of Franceās pyramidal āValenƧayā (Val-en-say) ash-rind lactic goat cheese, I was obsessed with the idea of producing cheeses with sweaters of geotrichum fungus on them.
Here is another round of my attempts to perfect this cheese. My first batch last year was compromised by flies who decided to feast with their young on it. In some countries cheeses this is desireable, but not for me. I did taste the parts that didnāt have the dining party in it, and it was so absolutely delicious I wanted to cry.
My second batch I added too much animal rennet and it formed a curd too quickly. I used a clabber as my starter. Clabber is raw milk let to ferment and fed like a sourdough starter. Theyāre essentially cousins in the world of fermentation.
I went ahead with the second make, and although it looked absolutely beautiful, it just didnāt have the tartness and creaminess that I expected. I have to laugh that Iām working towards a tasting profile of a cheese that Iāve never actually tasted before. I also aged the cheese too long and it dried out more than I would have liked. Again, stunning, but not much going on for the palate.
Here is my third batch. The geotrichum was growing beautifully on the exposed bottom of the cheese before I flipped them this morning to salt and further drain of whey. I added too much rennet again, even though I backed off on the amount from my last make. Iām a bit more hopeful for this batch, butā¦ my spidey sense is telling me itās still not on the right path.
Luckily ValenƧay isnāt a very long make and affinage (what you do to the cheese after you make it while itās aging), so Iāll go ahead and start another batch this week. This third batch I used packaged āflora danicaā as my mesophilic (medium temperature loving - aka below udder temperature) culture.
Tomorrow Iāll cover these with fine charcoal ash. It gives a visually delicious contrast of the pure white of goats cheese, with the black charcoal, and then the growing white fuzzy geo on top. š¤©
