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By Chip Brantley ~ Photography by Peter Frank Edwards

Goat Cheese Guru

The space might hold a café in one corner, she says, or a demo kitchen for cooking classes or a small spe-cialty foods market—maybe even all three. Outside, the torn-up parking lot could become a crushed-stone courtyard with outdoor seating and a regular open-air market, all of it ringed with orchards. And right in the middle of the warehouse, she says, tracing a square into the air of the 16,000-square-foot space, “I want to put a giant glass box. That way, everyone can walk around it and see how the goat cheese is made.”

The goat cheese in question is made by Belle Chevre, the creamery that Malakasis owns and that she envisions relocating from its current cramped quarters in Elkmont, Alabama, to this moldering relic of the old South. It’s all part of her plan to take her small-batch, hand-crafted cheeses from foodie splurge to everyday luxury. To do for goat cheese, in other words, what Ben & Jerry’s did for upscale ice cream: Make it a fun, accessible treat that also, despite wide-spread success, continues to embody the principles of its founders.

“The thing about artisan cheese is that outside of hard-core foodies, not a lot of people know the names of any specialty brands,” she says. “But I’m focused on taking this high-end item mainstream.”

Focus is not something that Malakasis lacks. A former software marketing executive who wanted to marry her professional skills with her passion for good food, Malakasis bought Belle Chevre in 2007. After an extended cheese-making apprenticeship with then-owner Liz Parnell, Malakasis immediately set to work reimagining the 20-year-old brand, which was esteemed within cheese circles for its creamy, fresh, French-style goat cheeses but largely unknown to anyone else.

“I keep asking myself two questions: ‘What can I do with goat cheese that no one else is doing?’ and ‘What would be fun?’ ” she says. “If it’s fun and if I think people will buy it, then I’ll try it.”

One of her first innovations was to introduce a line of breakfast spreads flavored with coffee, cinnamon, figs, and honey. She also created several variations on the traditional goat-cheese crottin or disc, including the Southern Belle (coated in bourbon-soaked pecans, sugar, and mint) and the Greek Kiss (wrapped in

brined grape leaves). Lemon, chocolate, and pumpkin goat-cheese cheesecakes followed. Most recently, she’s been testing goat’s-milk gelato and yogurt, and she’s trying to develop a line of handmade snack packs (think upscale Lunchables).

Inevitably, some ideas don’t pan out. A plan to reconfigure an old ice-cream truck into a road-tripping goat-cheese-mobile stalled when the price on eBay hit five digits. No one liked a Moroccan-inspired cheese spread (honey, curry, and cranberries) that Malakasis loved, and an attempt to crowd-fund $100,000 for a new creamery fell short.

But cheese makers, of all people, know how to accept and learn from failure. Making goat cheese the way Malakasis does, on a small scale and in a nonfac-tory environment, can be a precarious enterprise. The process itself, which differs slightly from cheese to cheese and cheese maker to cheese maker, is simple

Bourbon-spiked goat cheese? Chèvre gelato? How one very enterprising cheese maker is working to get her handcrafted products into every fridge in America.

Inside a former cotton warehouse in rural north-central Alabama, Tasia Malakasis is dreaming again.

Opposite: Greek Kiss goat cheese. Left: Tasia Malakasis rolls fresh goat cheese logs in dried oregano that her stepmother sends her from Greece. “It’s a simple trick to liven up the chèvre,” she says. Above: The result.

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Spring Pea Soup with Pesto Goat-Cheese Tartines

Tartine is simply the French word for an open-face sandwich. Be careful when pureeing the hot soup—if you fill the blender more than half full, it can spatter and burn you. Or use a hand-held immer-sion blender, which lets you puree the soup in the pot.

For pesto:2 large garlic cloves, roughly

chopped1⁄2 cup toasted pine nuts1⁄2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

cheese (about 11⁄2 ounces)4 cups packed fresh basil leaves,

washed well1 teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper1⁄4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-

virgin olive oil

For soup:13⁄4 cups reduced-sodium chicken

broth1 small onion, finely chopped1 medium carrot, thinly sliced1 medium stalk of celery, thinly

sliced1⁄2 teaspoon salt, plus extra

to season1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper1 pound frozen peas (33⁄4 cups)

For tartines:6 slices of fresh baguette3 ounces soft, fresh goat cheese

To make pesto: Pulse garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, then add nuts, cheese, a large handful of basil, and pepper and process until chopped. Add remaining basil one handful at a time, pulsing after each addition, until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil and blend until incorporated. Reserve 5 tablespoons of pesto for the soup and tar-tines. The remaining pesto can be stored, covered with a thin layer of olive oil, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

To make soup: In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth and 2 cups water to a simmer. Add onion, carrot, celery, salt, and pepper and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes. Add peas and simmer, uncovered, until peas are bright green and tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in 4 tablespoons of the pesto, then puree soup in two batches in a blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt.

To make tartines: Spread goat cheese on baguette slices, top with a dollop of the remaining 1 tablespoon of pesto, and serve with the soup.

Makes 6 servings

enough—when it works. First, a starter culture is introduced to pasteurized milk to help it ripen. Next, rennet is added to coagu-late the milk into curds, a process that can take a full day. The curd is then scooped or drained into cheesecloth bags, which sit for another day or so until the whey has drained off. What’s left in the bags is cheese, and after seasoning it, Belle Chevre’s crew of cheese makers shape each piece by hand before packaging it. But unseen bacterial forces make the outcome always uncertain, and this uncertainty adds a little risk to the work.

For Malakasis, that’s part of what gives cheese making its plea-sure. And on the business end, those risks are essential to building Belle Chevre into the company she wants it to be.

The trick is getting people to differentiate Belle Chevre from all the other goat-cheese brands available. “I’ve got only 1.4 sec-onds to persuade people in the store to pick up my cheese, and no one in Connecticut knows that it was handmade and hand-packed by eight women in north Alabama, talking, having fun together, and listening to loud music. So my job is to figure out how I let people know how much we love doing this.”

And that brings us back to the glass box. The idea of converting an old cotton warehouse into a state-

of-the-art creamery is part of Malakasis’s plan to make Belle Chevre special. The lease on the company’s longtime headquar-ters is due to expire, so Malakasis will soon have to find (and build) a new home.

She needs it to be within a reasonable commute for her employ-ees and to be flexible enough to expand if her venture in, say, chèvre cheesecake really takes off. But one of the main purposes of Belle Chevre’s new home will be to draw crowds in to hear (and be a part of ) the Belle Chevre story.

“People want to come see us right now,” she says, “and I have to turn them away. There’s just no room.”

The glass box would give people room to come and see the cheese-making process, and the reinvented cotton warehouse would give people a reason to linger and return.

Malakasis also likes that the place is surrounded by pasture. Belle Chevre has no goats of its own (nor a place to milk them), so Malakasis sources fresh milk from a couple of dairies in southern Tennessee and North Carolina. But she is also considering start-ing a small herd of her own once Belle Chevre has settled into its new home. The goats will provide a little milk and add the right air of authenticity. She has even toyed with an idea she calls Kids for Kids. The program would pair up schoolchildren with goats, possibly even involve a cheese made from community-sourced milk and help reconnect people to their food supply.

“I’m not trying to change the world with goat cheese,” says Mal-akasis. “But we’re more than just in the food business; we’re also in the business of making people happy. We can help support this community in a meaningful way by creating quality, real food.” She takes a last, long look around the warehouse. “You know, I’ve got big dreams for this little creamery.” •

For more information, see Find It Here on page 101.

Opposite: Malakasis wraps her Greek Kiss goat cheese in brined grape leaves. Above: Baguette topped with goat cheese and pesto accompanies fresh pea soup.

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Shrimp Salad with Green Onion and Goat Cheese Dressing

This creamy dressing would also be delicious on poached chicken breasts or salmon. Make sure to zest the lemon before juicing it.

For dressing:1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil1⁄2 cup crumbled soft mild goat

cheese1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar2 teaspoons lemon zestJuice of 1⁄2 lemon 2 tablespoons chopped fresh

chives2 tablespoons chopped fresh

green onionsSalt and pepper to taste

For salad:1 pound large shrimp (18–24

count)8 ounces fresh arugula Lemon slices to garnish (optional)

To make dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingre-dients until well combined. Set aside.

To make salad: Fill a large bowl halfway with cold water and add several ice cubes; set aside. Fill a large stockpot three-quarters full of salted water and bring to a boil. Add the shrimp and boil for 3 minutes, or until bright pink. Drain and immediately plunge shrimp into the ice water for a few minutes, to stop the cooking process. Drain and cut shrimp into 1/2-inch pieces. Add shrimp to dress-ing and stir to coat.

Line a large, shallow salad bowl or serving plate with arugula and top with shrimp. Garnish with lemon slices if desired.

Makes 6 servings

Rhubarb Galette with Chèvre Cream

A galette is a rustic, free-form tart. Try the tangy goat-cheese topping instead of whipped cream the next time you make strawberry shortcake.

For crust:11⁄4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra

to roll out dough1 tablespoon sugar1⁄4 teaspoon salt7 tablespoons chilled unsalted

butter, cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes2 tablespoons (or more) ice water

For filling and topping:1 pound trimmed rhubarb, cut into

1⁄2-inch pieces1⁄4 cup plus 5 tablespoons sugar,

divided1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon2 tablespoons (1⁄4 stick) unsalted

butter, cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes1 large egg yolk, beaten to blend8 ounces soft, fresh goat cheese1⁄4 cup heavy whipping cream

To make crust: Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to blend. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and pulse until dough clumps together, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 2 hours.

To make filling: Combine rhubarb, 1/4 cup sugar, and cinnamon in medium bowl. Let stand at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Remove dough from refrigerator and let soften 10 minutes at room temperature.

Place large sheet of parchment paper on work surface and sprinkle with flour. Roll out dough on parchment to 12-inch round. Transfer parchment with dough to large rimmed baking sheet. Spread rhubarb on dough, leaving 1-inch border at edge. Gently fold dough border over outer edge of rhubarb topping, pleating as needed.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over rhubarb. Dot rhubarb with butter cubes. Brush edge of dough with beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle border with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake until rhubarb is tender and juices bubble, about 1 hour. Cool at least 30 minutes.

To make topping: In a small bowl, beat together goat cheese, heavy cream, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar until smooth and creamy.

Cut galette into wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature with goat cheese cream.

Makes 4–8 servings

“I’m not trying to change the world with goat

cheese,” says Malakasis. “But we’re more than just

in the food business.”

Opposite and left: Goat cheese makes a creamy topping for a rustic rhubarb tart, and is the base for a tangy herb dressing on shrimp salad.