Trendspotting: Goat Cheese and Friends
Like I mentioned earlier [0], we ate a lot of cheese at the Fancy Food Show [1]. But oddly enough, we ate more goat milk flavored items than cow milk flavored items. Now there's nothing wrong with goat cheese (in fact, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the stuff), but it seemed as if goat milk products far outnumbered cow milk products. And I know that goat milk has been a trend for a little while (in fact I'd seen a lot of these products before), but it was still surprising to see so many of them under one roof.

There were too many products to actually keep up with, but here are a few that garnered my taste bud's full attention:

• Goat Milk Butter [2] from Meyenberg
  This was one of my favorite things at the show. It was a rich creamy European style butter but with a rich goaty flavor. I had to go back for seconds... actually thirds.
• Creamy Goat Cheese [3] from the Vermont Butter & Cheese Company
  This was a nice and spreadable goat cheese that was available in three flavors: Classic, Roasted Red Pepper and Olive & Herb. I thought it might make a nice alternative to cream cheese in the morning, or tossed with pasta.

Four more and a photo gallery, so

• Humboldt Fog [4] from Cypress Grove Chevre
  I was happy to see that my current favorite cheese was there in full force. It's creamy and lucious with a nice tangy flavor. I could eat this by the buckets full. I would probably end up with a pretty wild tummyache, but I bet I could do it. The other cheeses from Cypress Grove [5] were also really nice, including the Lamb Chopper (a sheep's milk cheese) and the fresh herbed chevre.



• Goat Milk Yogurt [6] from Redwood Hill Farms
  This yogurt is a nice offering for people who can't digest cow milk. However, I found it to be quite strong in flavor and rather "goaty." But, if you're into that, then seriously look for this stuff, it's delicious, but I just couldn't see myself eating an entire container in the morning. Oh, and they get bonus points because they stop milking their goats in the winter so that they can provide milk to the babies. It causes a "yogurt shortage" but it sounds well worth it to me.
• Echo Mountain Cheese [7] from Rogue Creamery
  This blue cheese is actually a goat and cow milk blend. The result was creamy, yet potent. I'd say it's a truly American flavor and one that I want to eat over and over again.



• Marin Chevre Blue [8] from Rouge et Noir
  Another goat style blue, but this time it was a goat milk Brie that has a traditional Roquefort culture mixed right into the milk. It had a nice tang, but was smooth and creamy from the goat's milk.

Sadly, I heard there was a goat milk frozen yogurt somewhere, but somehow I missed it. With over 1,100 booths, I guess that's easy to do, but I still would have enjoyed trying it.

Oh and word of advice to cheese companies, don't serve your cheese on an overly salty or potent cracker. How am I supposed to know what the cheese tastes like?

Check out some of the goat milk products we encountered: