Chèvre Cheese

Production, Uses, and Recipes

Chèvre: cheese made from goat's milk
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Chèvre (pronounced "SHEV-ruh" or sometimes simply "SHEV") is the French word for a female goat, but in the culinary arts, it refers to cheese made from goat's milk. While goat cheese is produced and eaten around the world, some varieties of chèvre carry a protected designation of origin (PDO) label, verifying French origin under strict production standards. Since goat's milk contains less lactic acid than cow's milk, people who are lactose intolerant often find they can enjoy chèvre without symptoms.

Fast Facts

  • Source: Goat's milk
  • Aging: A few days to four months
  • Texture: Soft and creamy to firm and crumbly
  • Flavor: Tart and earthy

What Is Chèvre?

Formally called le fromage de chèvre, which means "goat cheese," chèvre can range from soft and creamy to hard and crumbly, depending on its age. Goat's milk (especially raw or unpasteurized) produces cheese with strong flavors and aromas that vary according to the breed of goat and their diet; regional influences include climate, altitude, and other environmental factors. Presumably, the French feel comfortable referring to goat cheese simply as "goat," perhaps because goat meat rarely appears on menus in the country. In U.S. grocery stores, it's generally a midpriced cheese.

How Chèvre Is Made

Chèvre begins with raw or pasteurized goat's milk. Goat cheese descriptions often include statements such as "to be eaten from March to December." Unlike cows, which can be milked year-round, goats only produce milk for seven to eight months per year, mostly from March to July. Considering that most goat cheese ages for only a few days to a few weeks (four months being the outside limit), it makes sense that it would be best to eat it during certain months of the year.

Added starter cultures and rennet encourage curds to form, which cheesemakers then separate, drain, and pack into molds that determine the shape of the final product. Most chèvre in the U.S. falls into the fresh or semisoft categories, aging from a mere two days to a couple of weeks. Because cheeses made with raw milk must be legally aged for at least 60 days, goat cheese made in the U.S. nearly always comes from pasteurized milk.

Fresh and young chèvre is soft, creamy, and spreadable, with a mild, buttery flavor and a color similar to cream cheese. The longer it ages, the drier and more crumbly it becomes, developing stronger, tangier flavors and aromas, and the color deepens to a golden yellow. 

Types of Chèvre

Young fresh chèvre is a creamy cheese with no rind; it's often sold in tubs or logs in the grocery store. It may come seasoned with peppercorns or herbs. Aged goat cheese becomes harder and crumblier depending on how long it's left to ripen; you often see it in wheels, and it may be coated in edible ash. It's possible to find many common varieties of cheese in a goat version as well, such as blue, brie, cheddar, and Gouda.

Substitutes

Any cheese with similar textural characteristics could technically stand in for chèvre, though you won't be able to replicate the flavor with cheese from the milk of another animal as the distinctive tanginess comes from a fatty acid specific to goat's milk.

Feta, a crumbly but creamy Greek sheep's milk cheese, makes a good substitute for chèvre. Instead of fresh chèvre, try ricotta, cream cheese, or mascarpone. Replace aged chèvre with similarly aged sheep's or cow's milk cheese for a compatible texture.

Uses

When adding chèvre to a cheese platter, start with the youngest, softest, mildest cheese and proceed to the strongest, driest, most mature cheese. Chèvre must be at room temperature to display its full range of flavors and aromas, so take it out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to serving time.

Arguably, the best way to enjoy chèvre is on ​a fresh French baguette with a glass of wine. A crisp Sauvignon pairs well with younger chèvre, and when aged, a woody chardonnay makes a good companion. A fruity red will complement a warmed goat cheese.

Chèvre softens but won't completely melt when you heat it. This makes it good to use in pasta dishes and on pizza. Depending on its age (remember, younger is softer), chèvre can be spread on crackers for making canapés, or used as an ingredient in salads.

With aged chèvre, you want an equal amount of rind with each serving. Cut rounds of chèvre into wedge-shaped sections (similar to pizza slices), slice cylinders into rounds, and portion pyramids into vertical wedges.

Storage

Store unopened chèvre in its store packaging in the refrigerator for up to three months. Once opened, you can keep fresh chèvre in an airtight plastic container for a couple of weeks. Wrap aged varieties in parchment or wax paper, then with a second layer of foil or plastic.

From a purely food-safety standpoint, you can freeze tightly wrapped fresh or aged chèvre for a couple of months; thaw it slowly in the refrigerator. Be cautioned, however, that the flavor and textural quality of the cheese may deteriorate significantly.

Chèvre Recipes

Fresh chèvre is a fairly easy cheese to make at home, provided you can get fresh goat's milk. You can marinate store-bought chèvre for versatile hors d'oeuvres or incorporate it into recipes spanning the meal, from appetizers to desserts.

Can You Eat the Rind?

When chèvre ages, it may form an edible rind, which some producers wash with brine to develop more flavor.