Sainte Maure de Touraine is the name of a town about 50 km from Preuilly sur Claise. It is also the name of one of our local fromages de chèvre (goats' cheeses), the others being Pouligny-Saint-Pierre, Selles sur Cher, Valençay and Chavignol. We've found that even people who have not liked the goats cheese they've tried in the past discover that they really like Sainte Maure de Touraine.
What grows together goes together.
Sainte Maure de Touraine cheese goes very well with Vouvray wine.
Sainte Maure de Touraine is an AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) which roughly follows the boundaries of the old Province of Touraine. It has to be made by traditional methods - this means that all the cheese is made by hand from fresh ingredients, either on farms or in dairy co-operatives. There is an industrial version made in the same area, but this is called Sainte Maure (without the Touraine bit). We are surrounded by goats cheese producing farms, several of them prize winning and highly regarded, within a 5 kilometre radius around Preuilly.
The cheese is made in the shape of a log about 17cm (7") long and has a rye straw running through it to help support the cheese log as it is rolled in salt and ash. The straw is stamped with the name of the maker and the tradition is to use a knife that isn't too sharp to cut around the straw so it is left in the cheese. The industrial version doesn't have the straw.
Sainte Maure de Touraine cheeses just after having received their coating of ash and salt at the Limouzin Frères farm dairy near Le Petit Pressigny. They will be left to dry and mature in a controlled atmosphere room for about three weeks, before being sold at local markets and direct from the farm.
In other news: It snowed here yesterday!! Here's a photo from our attic window taken at 8:30 am. The last time it snowed here in March was 2018.
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