Goat cheese, goat's cheese or chèvre is cheese made from goat's milk. Goats were among the first animals to be domesticated for producing food. Goat cheese is made around the world with a variety of recipes, giving many different styles of cheeses, from fresh and soft to aged and hard.
Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California restaurant, known as one of the originators of California cuisine, and the farm-to-table movement. The restaurant emphasizes ingredients rather than technique and has developed a supply network of direct relationships with local farmers, ranchers and dairies.
Humboldt Fog is a goat milk cheese made by Cypress Grove, of Arcata, California, in Humboldt County. It is named for the local ocean fog which rolls in from Humboldt Bay. It is an uncooked pressed cheese made from pasteurized goat's milk.
California-style pizza is a style of pizza that combines New York and Italian thin crust with toppings from the California cuisine cooking style. Its invention is generally attributed to chef Ed LaDou, and Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California. Wolfgang Puck, after meeting LaDou, popularized the style of pizza in the rest of the country. It is served in many California cuisine restaurants. California Pizza Kitchen, Round Table Pizza, Extreme Pizza, and Sammy's Woodfired Pizza are four major pizza franchises associated with California-style pizza.
Goat milk is the milk of domestic goats. Goats produce about 2% of the world's total annual milk supply. Some goats are bred specifically for milk. Goat milk naturally has small, well-emulsified fat globules, which means the cream will stay in suspension for a longer period of time than cow's milk; therefore, it does not need to be homogenized. Eventually, the cream will rise to the top over a period of a few days. If the milk is to be used to make cheese, homogenization is not recommended, as this changes the structure of the milk, affecting the culture's ability to coagulate the milk as well as the final quality and yield of cheese.
Cowgirl Creamery is a company located in Point Reyes Station, California, which manufactures artisan cheeses. Founded in 1994, the company manufactures its own cheeses and sells other imported and domestic cheese and fine artisan foods. Its own cheeses include Red Hawk and Mt. Tam. Until April 2021, the company operated a storefront in the Ferry Building of San Francisco. Founders Peggy Smith and Sue Conley worked for years in the kitchens of the Bay Area, and Alice Waters' Chez Panisse, where Peggy worked for many years, is among many Bay Area establishments to incorporate cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery into its menu.
The Gourmet Ghetto is a colloquial name for the business district of the North Berkeley neighborhood in the city of Berkeley, California, known as the birthplace of California cuisine. Other developments that can be traced to this neighborhood include specialty coffee, the farm-to-table and local food movements, the rise to popularity in the U.S. of chocolate truffles and baguettes, the popularization of the premium restaurant designed around an open kitchen, and the California pizza made with local produce. After coalescing in the mid-1970s as a culinary destination, the neighborhood received its "Gourmet Ghetto" nickname in the late 1970s from comedian Darryl Henriques. Early, founding influences were Peet's Coffee, Chez Panisse and the Cheese Board Collective. Alice Medrich began her chain of Cocolat chocolate stores there.
Cypress Grove is a cheese manufacturer located in Arcata, California. They specialize in goat cheeses including the award-winning Humboldt Fog.
Chèvréchard is a French cheese manufacturer specializing in goat cheeses. It is located in the goat-cheese producing region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. In January 2007, the French dairy cooperative Valcrest acquired a 35% interest in the company, with the expectation of acquiring the balance later that year.
The Marin French Cheese Company is a manufacturer of artisan cheese located in rural west Marin County, California. The company was founded in 1865 by Jefferson Thompson, and produces cheeses under the Marin French Cheese brand name. It is the oldest continually operating cheese manufacturer in the United States.
Chabis is a French cheese with a delicate flavour and a texture that becomes firmer as it matures.
Belle Chevre is an artisanal goat cheese maker in rural Alabama. It was established in 1986 and is located in Limestone County, Alabama near Elkmont.
Vermont Creamery is a creamery and artisanal cheese and butter-maker in Websterville, Vermont, USA. It was founded in 1984 by business partners Allison Hooper and Bob Reese. Previously known as the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company, the company adopted its current name in 2013.
The Girl & The Fig is a restaurant in Sonoma, California in the United States. It was opened in Glen Ellen, California by Sondra Bernstein in 1997. In 2001, the restaurant relocated to downtown Sonoma.
Farmstead cheese, less commonly known as farmhouse cheese, is produced from the milk collected on the same farm where the cheese is produced. Unlike artisan cheese, which may also include milk purchased and transported from off-farm sources, farmstead cheese makers use milk only from animals they raise. According to the American Cheese Society, "milk used in the production of farmstead cheeses may not be obtained from any outside source". As a result, the cheeses produced often have unique flavors owing to the farm's local terroir. Most farmstead cheese is produced from cow, goat or sheep milk, although some farmstead cheeses are produced from water buffalo milk.
Goat farming involves the raising and breeding of domestic goats as a branch of animal husbandry. People farm goats principally for their meat, milk, fibre and skins.
Sheana Davis is an American cheesemaker, chef, and culinary educator. She is the owner of the Epicurean Connection, in Sonoma, California, and is the creator of Delice de la Vallee cheese, along with other fresh cheeses. Davis is also the author of Buttermonger.
