Warm Goat Cheese Salad (salade de chèvre chaud)

Warm Goats Cheese Salad with Walnuts - our Favourite Recipe

Goats cheese can be eaten raw, but this warm goat cheese salad is a delicious compromise for those (like my Corsican husband!) that don't like eating "just a cold salad". By making a typical French chèvre chaud, the goat's cheese is melted under the grill over slices of toasted baguette and served on a bed of salad greens and more toasted walnuts.

When I first tasted chèvre chaud as a French language student in 1992 in a Parisian brasserie, it was a far cry from the one I learned to make in Provence that summer.

Alas, many touristy Parisian brasseries still serve the horrid plastic-tasting, industrial 'bûchette' goat cheese with more than a drizzle of honey to disguise its pungant flavour. If you do see this, avoid it on the menu and make your own!

What's the Best Cheese for a Warm Goat Cheese Walnut Salad?

Most medium matured goats cheeses work well for this French salad. However, the best goat cheese to use is a Crottin de Chavignol from the Loire Valley. Made from lait cru (raw milk), it's a small cylindrical cheese, and it matures from a young 10 days to just over 2 months for a drier (sec) more powerful result.

The best Crottin to use is young to medium rather than the stronger more mature cheese for this - but it's all a question of personal taste. Some people prefer a fresh goat cheese but not only will the taste be far too mild, it has no rind and it melts rather messily over the baking sheet.

Crottin de chavignol has been made traditionally since the 16th century and has both quality status since 1976 of AOC and protected (AOP) since 1996. As a result, the cheese has to be made around the Chavignol area and adhere to strict production criteria. Check out my article on Aubigny-sur-Nère nearby Chavignol and Sancerre for your next trip.

If you can't find Crottins or prefer to try something other than chèvre, then use a good brie that's not too mature and gooey, making it easier to cut into wedges and bake.

Why is it Called Crottin in France?

Why the French name, 'Crottin'? The French are normally so poetic but when it came to officially naming this cheese, they somehow lost their romantic charm: it literally means goat's droppings.

However, that's not what it refers to. Instead, according to the local community of Chavignol, it's from the local French word 'crot' meaning hole or an area next to the river where women cleaned their clothes. The clay soil here was used to make not just oil lamps but also the moulds for the cheese.

What Goes Well with Goats Cheese?

From the tiny village of Chavignol next to Sancerre, Crottin de Chavignol goats cheese goes famously with Loire white wines. This village also has tastings and fabulous Sancerre wines from the surrounding vineyards of Sauvignon blanc grapes. Put the two together and the resulting flavour combined brings out the nutty flavours of the cheese with a floral aftertaste of honey.

More generally, the other local variety of grape, Chenin, also accompanies goats cheese very well. That's why the two main fruity white wines from the Loire marry well. So the simple rule of thumb to marry local foods with local wines usually works - it's all about le terroir, the land. However, a light fruity rosé wine (also from the Loire or Provence) is excellent too.

Likewise, as goats cheese has a nutty taste, toasted nuts also go well together: hazelnuts, pecans and particularly whole or chopped walnuts. Provençal herbs too such as rosemary, thyme, parsley - even lavender. Although honey goes well, avoid using it in this salad as it's too sweet; instead you could add fresh sliced pears.

How do you Cut Goats Cheese for Salad?

Typically, we use one Crottin de Chavignol goat cheese (typically 60g /2.5oz) per person.

As it's round, we cut 3-4 slices from each horizontally. So each person has 3 or 4 cheese toasts. If using a different kind of goats cheese, then cut to size to fill the top of each bread slice.

How to Warm Goat Cheese for Salad - the Tips

As a student, Antoine introduced me to some of his friends in Provence at his parents' home in Saignon (near Apt). I hardly spoke a word, apart from Je m'appelle Jill with a pronounced Scottish accent. What's more, their twangy French southern accents were initially bewildering: 'du pain' (pronounced 'du ping'), 'du vin' ('du ving'), and so on.  Even if they swear it has a song to it!

As the men sat around - catching up on gossip on the terrasse - the girls took me under their wing in the kitchen. We didn't need much language to understand each other. The most fresh and flavourful produce sat on my mother-in-law's solid kitchen table: lettuce, olive oil, cheese, walnuts, garlic, bacon, herbs and bay leaves. So how did they do it? Here are their top tips for warm goat cheese salad:

• Dribble olive oil on each small rustic slice of bread previously rubbed with garlic.
• Use day-old bread: either baguette or with grains or country bread
• Put half a bay leaf under each slice of cheese.
• Top each with a walnut, a sprinkle of herbes de provence (or fresh rosemary/thyme), drizzle more olive oil then grill.
• Serve with fried bacon bits and chopped garlic tossed together in the salad leaves with more toasted walnuts.

Salad Dressing for Chèvre Chaud

Serve on top of your choice of simple salad: freshest green lettuce (Batavia, feuille de chêne, mâche/lamb's lettuce, frisée that tickles the mouth). Top with lardons (bacon bits) that have been fried together with freshly chopped garlic.

Add more finely chopped fresh herbs, such as flat leaf parsley. Then toss the salad in a simple French vinaigrette dressing: olive oil (with some walnut or hazelnut oil), a third red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar (avoid balsamic vinegar as too sweet) and a little Dijon mustard.

Before eating, remember to take out the bay leaf from under the grilled cheese. Taste how the bread and cheese are beautifully fragranced with such a simple handful of ingredients. Ooh-là-là ! It's a typical taste of French summer. Serve with a glass of chilled Loire white wine or Provençal rosé amongst friends.