Andante Pastoral
United States
Pastoral is the sort of cheese that makes simplicity look clever. Fresh goat cheese, herbs and pink peppercorns—nothing unnecessary, nowhere for mediocre milk to hide.
The paste is snowy white, soft and beautifully fresh. Clean lactic tang meets the green fragrance of herbs, while pink peppercorns bring a delicate floral spice and just enough mischief to keep things interesting.
Made in Petaluma by Andante Dairy, it tastes distinctly of Northern California: fresh milk, herbs, pasture and a cheesemaker who knows when to leave well enough alone
Appearance & Aroma: Snow-white, soft goat cheese wrapped in a colorful mantle of herbs and pink peppercorns. Fresh, grassy aromas mingle with herbs and clean dairy notes.
Texture & Flavor: Smooth, moist and creamy with the bright tang of fresh goat's milk. Herbs add savory freshness; peppercorns contribute gentle, fragrant spice rather than heat.
Pastoral needs very little assistance. Spread it generously over warm sourdough or a crusty baguette, perhaps with good olive oil and a few ripe tomatoes.
Crumble it over roasted beets, grilled zucchini or a salad of bitter greens. Tuck it into an omelet, fold it through warm pasta, or spoon it onto roasted potatoes.
It is particularly good with figs, pears, peaches and melon. Honey adds sweetness; toasted walnuts or almonds bring crunch. For something wonderfully simple, place the whole cheese on a platter with olives, tomatoes, good bread and let everyone get on with it.
Keep Pastoral refrigerated and well wrapped to protect its moisture and delicate aromas. As a fresh cheese, it is best enjoyed promptly after opening. Allow it to lose some of its refrigerator chill before serving.
Pastoral is a fresh, soft goat's-milk cheese made by cheesemaker Soyoung Scanlan at Andante Dairy in Petaluma, California. Andante has been making artisan cheese since 1999, with Scanlan describing her guiding idea as finding the finest expression of milk and craft.
The cheese begins simply. Starter culture and rennet are added to the goat's milk and the curd develops slowly over 18–20 hours. It is then drained and salted rather than subjected to a lengthy aging process.
Pastoral takes Andante's fresh goat cheese one delicious step further: the finished cheese is rolled in herbs and decorated with pink peppercorns. The result is an 8-ounce cheese whose character comes from freshness rather than maturation.
Andante's musical name is no accident. Scanlan, a trained pianist, named the dairy after the musical tempo and gives her cheeses names drawn from music—a fitting philosophy for cheeses made with considerable technique but very little noise.
| Milk | Goat |
|---|---|
| Texture | Soft |
| Country | United States |
