Hallertauer Ziegenhof Goat Ricotta

How often do you get to talk about sustainable low-input dairy farming one day and the very next day discover a local goat dairy is 1) in existence and b) practicing just that!
Seldom.
Seldom is the answer.
All the more was my joy, then, when I re-stumbled upon a stand at my local farmer's market. The Hallertauer Ziegenhof stand is a cornucopia of high quality local cheeses and meats. A Cheesucopia. What quickly caught my eye, though, was the advertisement for fresh ricotta. You may recall from a recent post that I am an absolute sucker for fresh ricotta. What the recent joiner of the Functioning Cheese Community may not know, however, is that I also love Goat's milk cheeses. L.O.V.E. Love them. I'd never tried goat ricotta, only a phenomenal sheep's milk ricotta from Fruition Farms and the legendary Parma Ricotta to note, so starting a culinary tour of Hallertauer Ziegenhof's menu here was a no brainer.

Origin: Bavaria, Germany
Milk: Goat,
Affinage: fresh!

Notes: The beauty of sustainable dairy farming is the lack of need for many of the chemical inputs and antibiotics that are required to keep an industrial scale operation going. The idea is to balance the natural needs and outputs of different animals and plants in such a proportion that, for example, the mixture of animals fertilizes and aerates the ground where said animal's grazing feed can then grow. Or, say, pigs consuming the otherwise wasted whey, a byproduct of cheesemaking that pigs love and is healthy for them.

Thoughts: The first thing you notice upon biting in is that this is more a savory than a sweet Ricotta. The grain is fine and pleasant, like a magic trick where the grain is so fine it is actually creamy. This is more of a hay and grassy Ricotta, nowhere to be found is the typical sweet tang of goat’s milk. Still it lacks nothing, it keeps you coming back wanting more! It is complex but subtle, a full and complete bite by itself but also clearly a strong base for so many pairings. On your third and fourth bite you start to be bewitched by the luxury of the cheese and imagine you are tasting chocolate and other herbs, although you know it only goat’s milk! This has been made with love, and what a treat to find it here at the farmer’s market! 

I've been working on my ricotta toast game (#ricottatoastrevolution) but they usually don't last long enough to be photographed. I do love writing about and photographing cheese, but I love eating it even more.