It is a small round and spicy puck found in Drôme and Ardèche: the Picodon. A whole milk goat cheese originally called Picaoudou, "spicy cheese" in Occitan. Its spiciness develops as it matures. It can be tasted young, from 12 days, but some producers refine it up to two years by washing it with clear water, whey or wine… Ardèche of course, so that it keeps a little flexibility! It is not for all palates.
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But from the first month of ripening, it begins to have a little character with molds which will give it a little taste of hazelnuts and mushrooms. We choose it as a fruit: more or less white, rather melting or very brittle. On a cheese board, you can install several Picodons, it's a real treat for the eyes and the taste buds! Picodon is also famous for being the first cheese in space. Jean-Jacques Favier from Drôme took him on his mission aboard the American space shuttle Columbia.
In summer, the best time to taste Picodon
And summer is the best time to taste it: since goats give more fatty, more flowery milk, thanks to their pasture in the meadows. But instead of tasting it at the end of a meal, it is possible to make a starter with a crème brûlée.
Ingredients
300 g Picodon
300 g whole fluid cream
4 egg yolks
25 g brown sugar
Thyme
Pepper
Salt
The recipe for crème brûlée based on Picodon
For this recipe, you need a young Picodon, not too refined. It is melted with whole cream and thyme over medium heat. Once the cheese is melted, remove the thyme and mix the cheese and the cream on the egg yolks. We pepper, we dirty, and we mix everything!
Then put the mixture in ramekins, they cook half an hour at 140 degrees in a water bath. It is cooked when the cream is taken. Before serving, we add a little brown sugar, and with the blowtorch we burn the creams! If you don't have a blowtorch, you can put your creams back in the oven, in grill mode.
If you don't want to cook ...
It's the holidays, you prefer to discover new tables rather than cooking? Meet Thierry Chalençon, the chef of "L'Oiseau sur sa Branche" in Saou, in Drôme. He uses the village Picodon, a tasty Picodon to surprise at the end of a meal, but not for dessert.