Sainte Maure de Touraine Cheese Traditions

Sainte Maure de Touraine goats cheese draining in moulds in a farm dairy.

Sainte Maure de Touraine goats cheese is formed into a cylinder shaped log that is narrower at one end than the other. Traditionally they supposed to be cut from the thick end first. This is because the thin end has small nipples formed as the cheese presses through the drainage holes in the mould. These are said to represent the teats of the nanny goat, and you don't want to be cutting off her teats. However, it has to be said that, having checked all my photos, both I and various cheese professionals of my acquaintance nearly always start at the thin end!

With the eye of faith you can just about see 'nipples' on the ends of the cheese.

Sainte Maure de Touraine goats cheese famously has a rye straw inserted down the middle, and I've heard several stories about why this is done. According to my expert sources at Sainte Maure de Touraine the real reason is that in the old days cheese used to be transported to market in baskets lined with rye straw. The long logs of cheese often broke in half on their way to market, and in order to sell them, the cheesemakers would insert a rye straw from the bottom of the basket into the two broken ends of the cheese and push them together so the straw formed an armature to strengthen the cheese. After a while it became standard practice to insert a straw in all Sainte Maure de Touraine cheeses before they went to market, so they didn't break in the first place, and rather than being a sign of an 'inferior' (ie broken) product, it became an important signature of a high quality product that is still used today.

Sainte Maure de Touraine goats cheese -- cut from the wrong end! Oh no!!