Lactic Goat Cheese: A Small Cheese with a Big Personality!
The lactic goat cheese from Podere Il Casale strikes the perfect balance between tradition and taste, technique and simplicity.
With its natural acidity, soft texture, and potential for aging, this cheese is a true gem of artisanal cheesemaking—capable of surprising even the most refined palates.
Among the many types of cheese, lactic-coagulated goat cheeses stand out for their distinctive processing and unique organoleptic characteristics. Unlike rennet-coagulated cheeses—which are made by adding rennet and solidify in less than an hour—lactic cheeses are created by allowing the milk to ferment naturally at room temperature for about 24 hours.
This slow and gentle process imparts a marked acidity and high digestibility, as the lactose is converted into lactic acid during fermentation.
An Ancient Technique with European Roots
Lactic coagulation is a traditional cheesemaking method widely used in France (which is why this cheese is sometimes called “French goat cheese”) and throughout Central Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, and Russia.
In these regions, similar cheeses go by names like “Quark,” “Topfen,” or local equivalents in Dutch, Polish, and Russian.
Caprino Lattino Podere Il Casale
Characteristics of Lactic Goat Cheese
Lactic goat cheese typically has a creamy, soft, and almost spreadable texture. On the palate, it offers a fresh, delicate, and slightly tangy flavor—perfect on its own or paired with vegetables, rustic bread, or honey.
But that’s not all: these cheeses can also be aged. In just a few weeks, they undergo a remarkable transformation—the paste becomes firmer and creamier, and the flavor develops more intense, piquant notes while retaining the refined qualities typical of goat’s milk.
The Magic of Aging: Bloomy Rind and Vegetable Ash
During aging, lactic goat cheeses develop a bloomy rind thanks to the presence of noble molds, similar to those used in French cheeses like Camembert.
In some artisanal productions, the small forms are dusted with vegetable ash—a traditional technique that lowers surface acidity and encourages the development of diverse microbial flora, enriching the cheese with even more complex aromas and characteristics.
A Cheese Best Enjoyed Fresh
Lactic goat cheeses are delicate and living products that express their finest qualities when enjoyed fresh.
However, with time, they develop new layers of flavor: for those who appreciate cheeses with evolving character, they are a small universe waiting to be explored.
Lactic goat cheese is a perfect balance of tradition and taste, technique and simplicity. With its natural acidity, soft texture, and potential for aging, it is a true gem of artisanal cheesemaking—capable of surprising even the most discerning palates.
