the cheese blog

Homefield House Goats Cheese

The SO and I finally managed to walk the 250m or so across the road to Reading Farmers Market. I had been wanting to see if any dairies or cheese makers had a stand, but was never around when the market was in town.

Homefield House Dairy Goats, located in Bray, Berks,  had a stand with various types of their goat cheese. Always a sucker for goat cheese, I decided to keep it simple and try the Plain Pressed version. The cheese is made from pasteurized goats milk from Homefield House’s herd.

The cheese is definitely drier than most fresh goats milk cheeses. The texture was almost crumbly, but had enough moisture to retain some shape. The taste is ok, not great, but not bad. It has the traditional goat tang, but there was a lingering bitterness. I have to admit I left this cheese in the fridge for a few days after buying it (too many cheese bought that day!) so I suspect, although the label said it was good for a few more days, probably didn’t do well in the fridge. I have a nagging feeling that the cheese didn’t hold up well, so I’m going to reserve judgment until I’m able to try some more. Goats milk is also sensitive to the seasons and I suspect it’s a bit late in the year, as the goats are into their breeding period, so I’m definitely going to get some more early in the spring and do a comparison. Stay tuned!