Legend has it that after the defeat of the Saracen armies at Poitiers, Arab women taught the inhabitants of Sainte-Maure how to make this log-shaped goat’s milk cheese. One thing is certain, goat farming has been present in the Touraine region since the reign of the Carolingian kings in the 8th and 9th centuries.
Today, Sainte-Maure de Touraine is made both on the farms where the milk is produced and in dairies. The milk is slowly curdled and the curd is moulded in tapered tins. The whey is then drained from the cheese and the cheese is salted with a mix of salt and ash. Just before it is taken out of the mould, a rye straw is inserted into its core which gives it its specific characteristic.
In keeping with the times, today the rye straw is laser engraved with the name of the cheese and the identification number of the cheese maker.
The cheese is then transferred to the damp, cool atmosphere of a ventilated drying room where it is left to ripen for least ten days.
Its homogeneous, delicate, ivory white paste has a sligntly nutty flavour. The taste of goat’s milk varies according to the season. This is hardly surprising since Sainte-Maure de Touraine is produced throughout the province of Indre-et-Loire and in outlying parts of the Vienne. This region of valleys and plains is drained by the Loire river and has a mild, temperate climate.
