All about Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine cheese. Features of manufacturing, is it possible to cook it yourself. Useful properties and contraindications. How to eat this French cheese properly and in what dishes is it better to add it?
Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine is a French goat cheese that is produced in the Touraine region. The product has a long history, it is believed that the French began to make it back in the 8th century. In 1990, the cheese was awarded the AOC certification, the corresponding label on Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine guarantees the highest quality and production in a specific geographical area. The cheese has an unusual appearance: the "head" is cylindrical, resembling a log. Weight - 250-300 g, diameter - 3-5 cm, length - 14-16 cm. A rye straw is located in the center of the cylinder; it is specially inserted into the cheese to create special ripening conditions. The crust is dark, covered with "fluffy" thick white-gray mold. The pulp is soft, tender, the taste is salty-sour with hints of nuts. Served as an appetizer before the main course or, on the contrary, completes the meal instead of dessert. Perfectly complements salads, toasts, baked dishes.
Features of making cheese Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine
The manufacturing season for Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine begins in March and ends in November. The product belongs to fast ripening cheeses, you can eat it after 10 days, however, aging up to 6 weeks is permissible. The "older" the cheese, the sharper its taste, the denser the pulp and the firmer the crust.
To try Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine, you do not have to go to France; you can cook a similar cheese yourself if you can purchase special ingredients and create the right temperature conditions.
The recipe for cheese Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine is as follows:
- Chill pasteurized goat milk (4 L) to 22OC, control the temperature with a milk thermometer.
- Add mesophilic starter culture (1/8 tsp), mold of Penicillium Candidum and Geotrichum Candidum cultures (on the tip of a knife), leave for 5 minutes.
- Dissolve calcium chloride (1/4 tsp) in warm water (50 ml), dissolve dry ferment or vegetarian chymosin (1 ml) separately in warm water (50 ml).
- Add both solutions to a saucepan and stir.
- Move the pan to a temperature of 10-15OFrom at 15 o'clock.
- After this time, a curdled mass and whey are formed, the latter must be drained, it is not needed, and the mass is decomposed into forms.
- Cover the molds with a towel or natural cloth, leave to self-press at a temperature of 10-15OFrom day to day - turn the cheese every 6 hours.
- Before removing the cheese, insert a rye straw into the center, if you do not have one, you can replace it with any sufficiently long stick made of natural wood.
- Salt the cheese. To do this, weigh the resulting heads, take salt at the rate of 1% of the weight, that is, you need to take 1 g of salt per 100 g head. Spread the salt gently over the cheese and put it back into the mold.
- Leave the product to ripen for 2-6 weeks at 8OWITH.
Manufacturers use ash at the final stage, it gives the cheese that very remarkable appearance and resemblance to a log. At home, this technique is optional, but you can. Just remember that ash has a fine texture and is a powerful dye, and therefore you need a special place for the procedure. Place the heads on a surface that you don't mind getting dirty, put on gloves and lightly dust the cheese with ash through a sieve.
Please note that making Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine from store-bought milk is not a good idea, manufacturers often violate the conditions of pasteurization, conducting it at higher temperatures in order to disinfect the milk. A curd will not form from "overheated" milk, so it is best to purchase unpasteurized farm milk and pasteurize it yourself, for this you need to heat the raw material to 72-75OC and cool quickly.
Composition and calorie content of Saint-Mor-de-Touraine cheese
The calorie content of Saint-Mor-de-Touraine cheese is 301 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Protein - 18 g;
- Fat - 20 g;
- Carbohydrates - 2 g.
Protein and fats of goat cheeses differ from the same nutrients of cow cheeses in better digestibility, and therefore, despite the generally not small percentage of fat content of Saint-Maur-de-Touraine, it is allowed for moderate consumption even in a dietary diet.
The composition of the product is remarkable not only for well-digestible protein and fats, it contains an extensive group of vitamins - A, E, C, B-groups, as well as minerals - calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper.
Benefits of Sainte-Mor-de-Touraine cheese
The composition of Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine cheese determines its beneficial properties. They are really numerous, and here are some of the main ones:
- Positive effect on bone tissue … Calcium is the fifth most abundant chemical element present in the human body; only oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen are ahead of it. This is why keeping it up is so important, cheese in general and Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine in particular is a great way to replenish your macronutrient supply. The main role of calcium is to maintain the integrity of the skeletal system in a healthy state. Its deficiency can be easily identified by the fragility of the nails, soreness of the gums, and frequent dental diseases.
- Normalization of the cardiovascular system … Potassium provides the passage of nerve impulses in the body, controls the work of the heart muscle, and regulates blood pressure.
- Regulation of metabolism … Magnesium is an integral part of catalysts for more than 300 enzymatic reactions, in particular, it contributes to energy production, protein synthesis, glucose and fatty acid metabolism. Phosphorus is also involved in most of these processes.
- Prevention of anemia and colds … The presence of iron in cheese ensures the normal production of healthy blood cells. Also, this mineral is involved in the formation of immune cells.
- Improving skin condition … The benefit of Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine cheese lies in its high zinc content. This mineral is essential for the normal growth of skin, hair and nails. Also an important factor for skin health is the presence of vitamin A and copper in the product, which are responsible for the normal state of epithelial cells and are involved in the production of collagen.
- Antioxidant effect … The product contains two vitamins with a powerful antioxidant effect - A and E. They help to regulate the level of free radicals, thus preventing molecular cellular abnormalities and the development of severe pathologies, in particular, they prevent the development of cancer and early aging.
- Improving the functioning of the nervous system … This beneficial effect of cheese is explained by the content of B vitamins in the composition. Regular use of the product is one of the ways to combat insomnia and depression.
Goat cheese is ahead of cow cheese in many nutritive parameters; supporters of a healthy diet often recommend making a choice in the direction of this product when compiling a consumer basket.
Read more about the health benefits of Derby cheese
Contraindications and harm of Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine cheese
The consumption rate of Saint-Mor-de-Touraine cheese for a healthy person is 50-80 g per day. It is no longer worth eating due to its high content of fat and sodium salts.
As for contraindications, all goat products do not have many of them. Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine cheese can be harmful if there is a disease for which a treatment table has been prescribed for the successful treatment. In this situation, it is imperative to consult your doctor before eating French cheese.
It is definitely forbidden to use Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine for people with severe gastrointestinal diseases - gastritis, ulcers, etc. The reason lies in the increased acidity of the product.
Allergy sufferers should also exercise caution when tasting cheese. Goat milk products are not as allergenic as cow milk products, however, individual intolerance is not excluded.
It is also better for people with weak immunity, the elderly and children under 7 years old to refuse to taste the product, since mold cultures are involved in its preparation.
Recipes with cheese Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine
Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine is perfect for individual serving, you just need to cut it carefully and serve with honey, berry jam, fruits, nuts, olives. The cheese can be preheated in the microwave, hot goat cheese will go well with a fresh baguette. You get the perfect toast if you melt the cheese directly on the bread in the oven or microwave, and then top with sun-dried tomatoes, basil and drizzle with olive oil.
For more complex dishes, cheese is also suitable, let's break down a few of them:
- Cannelloni with goat cheese … Fry chopped garlic (8 cloves) in a skillet in olive oil. In a blender, beat the canned tomatoes (800 g) and add to the garlic, cook until thick. In a separate frying pan, fry finely chopped onion (1 piece) and garlic (2 cloves), add parsley (20 g), simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, add chopped cheese (200 g) to the pan and stir. Boil 12 Cannelloni - a special type of paste made of huge tubes - until al dente. Place the cheese and onion mixture in each tube. Place the pasta in a baking dish, top with tomato sauce, sprinkle with grated Parmesan (50 g) and bake for 20 minutes at 190OWITH.
- Light pear salad … Rinse arugula (40 g) and dry. Cut the cheese (70 g) into cubes. Cut a pear (1 small) into slices, fry in a pan (it is better to use ghee) or grill until soft. Chop the walnuts (20 g). Prepare the dressing: Combine apple cider vinegar, melted honey and olive oil in equal proportions (2 tablespoons each). Place a rucola pillow on a large plate, put cheese, warm pear, nuts on top, pour with dressing, stir and eat right away.
- Bruschetta with pesto and goat cheese … Fry the baguette slices (1 piece) in a frying pan in a little vegetable oil. Bulgarian pepper (2 pieces) cut into wedges, put on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 200OC. Put basil (20 g), garlic (1 clove), Parmesan (30 g), pine nuts (15 g) in a blender and pour olive oil (50 ml). Whisk to create a pesto sauce. Spread the pesto on the baguette slices, slice the Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine (200g) and place the cheese on top of the sauce along with the baked pepper wedges.
- Pizza with arugula and nuts … Bake walnuts (65 g) in an oven preheated to 230OC, until a characteristic odor appears - it will take about 5 minutes. Watch the nuts carefully, they burn very quickly. Roll out the finished pizza dough (500 g), brush with walnut oil, top with arugula (150 g), pieces of cheese (100 g) and nuts, after breaking them slightly with your hands. Bake the pizza for 15 minutes.
- Soup-mashed zucchini with shrimps … Boil 10 shrimp in salted water. Cherry tomatoes (4 pieces) cut in half, sprinkle with salt, pepper, basil to taste, bake in an oven preheated to 180OC, within 10 minutes. Zucchini (2 pieces) cut into cubes and boil separately from the shrimp until soft. Grind the zucchini in a blender without the water in which they were cooked, salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mashed potatoes into a soup bowl, top with the shrimp, then the baked cherry and Sainte-Mor-de-Touraine slices.
Best of all, dishes with Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine cheese will be combined with light dry wines. Local French are ideal: white Vouvray and Sancerre and red Chinon.
Interesting facts about Sainte-Mor-de-Touraine cheese
If you remove the straw from the real Sainte-Maur-de-Touraine, you can see the AOC seal and the manufacturer's identification mark on it. By the way, Saint-Maure cheese is also produced in Touraine - an industrial analogue of Saint-Maur-de-Touraine of high quality, but there is no AOC mark on its straw.
Until 1990, about 300 tons of Sainte-Mor-de-Touraine were produced annually in France, but then the scale of production increased dramatically, as a result, in 2003, more than 1000 tons of this cheese were already sold. Today it is the second largest goat cheese in France in terms of production, ahead of it only Croten-de-Chavignoles.
The mold crust on the cheese shrinks over time, and therefore it can serve as an indicator of its maturity, the more mature product has a more dented shape.
Cheese made from milk harvested from April to October is most valued; this season the grass in the meadows where goats graze is the most nutritious and rich in vitamins and minerals.
According to legend, the French "spied" the recipe for the cheese at the beginning of the 8th century from the captive Saracens. Their tribes initially settled in Spain, but then went on a campaign to France, but were defeated. On the campaign, the Saracens were accompanied by their families and livestock, in particular, goats. Thanks to this coincidence, the French got a recipe for one of their best goat cheeses.
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