Kabritt white goat cheese
There's the good news and there's the bad news. First the good news: Farm House Natural Cheese's goat's milk creation, Kabritt, is so satisfying, its warm linger will nestle around your taste buds like a cozy blanket. The bad news is you can only buy it in British Columbia. (I guess it's all good news for the West Coast).
Kabritt is a tomme-style cheese that has some blue mould added to the milk. You probably would never guess it was there except for the slight tang in the chewy, edible rind.
In appearance, it falls into the "pretty" cheese category. The rind is mottled beige/white with an orange tint. When the cheese is sliced thin, the rustic crust frames a dense white paste.
You can smell the rich, earthy scent of this cheese the minute you unwrap it. The paste is moist and slightly chalky, and melts in the mouth. The buttery, salty and tangy notes have an amazingly long and complex linger. Leave it out on the counter to nibble on; the flavours bloom as the cheese warms up.
Cheese maker and owner Debra Amrein-Boyes had a very specific reason for naming her cheese Kabritt, which is the Haitian Creole word for goat. Launched in December, 2009, Kabritt honours the teams working in Haiti to improve the lives of the local people.
In 2006, Ms. Amrein-Boyes and her farm became involved with a relief organization called Haiti Arise. When the founders, Marc and Lisa Honorat, were looking for ways to improve the nutrition of the Haitian community, "one thing led to another," Ms. Amrein-Boyes says. "We cooked up the idea of a goat dairy. A goat is a great source of food, from meat to milk to cheese."
The goal was to "develop recipes for cheeses, like the Kabritt, that can be made simply - using a copper kettle over a propane burner, for example. The cheese can then be used for food or sold for income."
When the earthquake hit last January, the wall that was being built around land purchased for the dairy was destroyed. It is now almost rebuilt. Soil samples have been taken to determine what can be grown to feed the goats. A freshwater well has been drilled on the land, and the facility will utilize water as a coolant. Power for the plant will come from solar panels rather than diesel engines.
The organization is getting ready to send down healthy breeding goats and teach the basics of animal husbandry. The system will work by giving local families a goat to start their own flock, and they will pass on one of the kids to another family.
This is one cheese you can feel good about eating. And if you can't get the Kabritt in your province, look on the bright side: All you need is a goat, a copper kettle and a propane burner. Oh yeah - and the recipe. Might be easier just to order some.
Sue Riedl studied at the Cordon Bleu in London.
On the block
Cheese: Kabritt
Origin: Agassiz, B.C.
Producer: The Farm House Natural Cheeses
Cheese maker: Debra Amrein-Boyes
Milk: pasteurized goat's
Type: farmstead, lightly cooked and pressed, natural rind
Shape: 1-kilogram wheel
Distributor: www.farmhousecheeses.com
Availability
Vancouver: Les Amis du Fromage, Cardero Bottega
Locally available only in British Columbia, but cheese boxes can be shipped anywhere in Canada. Order from the website.