Sainte-Maure

Sainte-Maure is a matured goat’s cheese that can be made anywhere in France. However, it is principally produced in the Poitou-Charentes.
The minimum maturation period for this cheese is seven days. The cheese is also available in a reduced-salt version with 25% less salt.
Its rind may be coated in ash, and it may also have a straw in the center of its paste, much like the AOP « Sainte Maure de Touraine », with which it should not be confused.
Most of the Sainte Maure cheeses that are produced are not coated in ash, but instead have a white bloomy rind.
This is the most widely-consumed goat’s cheese: as a snack on a slice of fresh bread, in green salad, or breaded and pan-fried on both sides in a little olive oil.
The definition of this cheese was established by the French decree nº 2007-628 of April 27, 2007.

This creamy, soft-ripened cheese log either has a white, downy bloomy rind or a thin, wrinkled and sometimes blue-spotted or ashy rind. Its paste is very white, smooth and dense.

Its taste is rather mild and fresh, and its distinctive goat’s taste develops progressively as it matures. It can sometimes have a sharp taste when its rind is bloomy and it has undergone a long maturation period.