Crottin De Chavignol

Crottin de Chavignol is a unique goat cheese that can be eaten and enjoyed throughout its stages of maturity. At a couple of weeks old, the crottin hasn't developed a complexity of flavour and the rind is a faint fuzz of white mould. A couple of weeks later the cheese is covered in a downy white Penicillium rind and a speckle of blue mould has appeared on it. Inside, the paste remains white but the flavour has become more robust and complex. By two months the downy rind is covered in blue mould. As the cheese ages it dries further and the mould dies off, leaving a bluey-black rind. The paste protected by this hard exterior remains white and firm but the flavour is deeper, still sweet but a little sharp.