Pigouille (pronounced pig-oo-wee) is a very cool cheese, almost as cool as last week’s TikTok, and a newbie in our case. This little cheese from Machecoul on the western coast of France is a sheep’s milk cheese with a geotrichum rind! YES, you heard that right, people!! I can tell you’re excited, and if you’re wondering why you’re excited, it’s because that combination of sheep’s milk with that particular rind is quite rare. Shall we back up, friends, so we can be really be on the same page about our excitement?

A geotrichum rind is a snowy white to pale yellow to light grey, sometimes fluffy, always wrinkly rind on a lot of soft goat’s milk cheeses. If you see a cheese that kind of looks like a brain, it has a geotrichum rind. Geotrichum candidum (technically, it’s called Galactomyces geotrichum now, but the old name is so cemented in the cheese world that it’s still the one we use. Boom, science, sort of) is one of the most common molds added to the cheeses because it helps control the acidity and promote the development of certain flavors. This mold can mellow a goat’s milk or sheep’s milk cheese, keeping it from being too tangy or animal-y, and it can add a touch of earthiness, nuttiness, and/or sweetness. These wrinkly rinds are powerhouses!

Although geotrichum candidum mold is very common on goat’s milk cheeses, Pigouille is one of the few sheep’s milk cheeses with this treatment that we’ve seen, so we were very excited to taste it. We were not disappointed! Lil Piggie (don’t tell the French) has a cakey texture with that signature wrinkly rind. Because the geotrichum controls the acidity on the outside of this small wheel, a spot or two of blue mold that likes this calm environment may dot the surface adding very little flavor but a bit of pizazz to the look. Try a chunk and you’ll taste lemon, butter, grass, and a good hit of black pepper at the end. Come by and grab one of these little wonders!

If you want to explore other cheeses with a geotrichum candidum rind, try Chabichou du Poitou (haven’t mentioned you in a hot minute, yes I’m still in love), Cremont, or Sainte Maure de Touraine. All are deeply satisfying and I know you’ll get why these rinds are da bomb.

For the love of cheese and that geo,

Kiri

P.S. Since Mardi Gras, or Yardi Gras for the socially distant version, happened this week, I have New Orleans on the brain! Here is an awesome interview with famed New Orleans chef, Leah Chase, where she tells the story of her life and restaurant.

Pigouille and Wrinkly Rinds

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