the cheese blog

Crottin de Chavignol

While in New York, I was passing through Grand Central Terminal and decided to visit the Murray’s location in the Grand Central Market. I was looking for something that would be easy to transport and eat later in the day for a snack. They had a few French Crottin de Chavignol’s on display and they looked lovely.

These Crottin are made from pasteurized goat’s milk into little (70-80 grams or so) rounds. They are named after a town/hamlet outside of Sancerre in France. The name, when translated, basically means horse droppings or dung! It definitely didn’t look or taste anything like it’s namesake. These Crottin’s were not fresh, but were still young and nothing like some of the descriptions of them I’ve read (i.e., so aged they turn black and really do look like horse dung).

These Crottin had a nice bloomy rind, with a beige to golden hue. The rind was a thickish, so they had a little age. The interior was white as expected for a goat’s milk cheese. The aroma was fresh and a bit grassy. The texture was moist, but not creamy moist. The flavor was fresh, just a bit sweet, with a mild tang. The typical goat milk tang had mellowed nicely. Highly recommended, and portable too!