Goat Cheese

Ardsallagh Goat Cheese

Last week we had a visit from Jane Murphy from Carrightwohill, West Cork. She and her family are producing the most divine goat cheese. I specially like the Soft Cheese. It’s a fresh young cheese only 4 days old when it comes on the market. It has got a creamy texture and is very mild in taste. You can eat it with cheese biscuit but I prefer it on a toasted slice of baguette, with a little pepper, or herbs or a few drops of fine olive oil. You also can grill it for a very short time and serve it with dried tomatoes and a lettuce or rocket salad. There are many more ways this cheese can be used. They also make a Roulade either filled with figs or cranberries.

Jane Murphy told us how it all started in the seventies. One day a man came to her house selling insurances. She was not interested in buying one, but I imagine as all Irish do, she had a nice chat with him, her young kids turned up and the salesman saw they suffered from bad eczema on their hands and arms. He told Jane he would have a cure for that and that he will return.He came back the same day with a goat, telling her she must give the kids goat milk only to drink. Jane had no clue how to milk a goat, she had to look it up in books and learned buy trying. She was kind of suspicious first if it worked, but the eczemas disappeared for ever. She bought another goat. She started to produce cheeses in her own kitchen with the left over milk. Her hobby grew slowly into a business.


In the eighties her husband decided to give the cheese production a try and gave up his job to help her opening a goat farm. The both learned how to produce cheese and are having several hundreds goats now. Furthermore they have farmers who deliver them goat milk. The milk must be of a good quality, it can only be good if the food for the goat is good. The goats are fed with hay and sugar beets. Ardsallagh cheese factory has a contract with every deliverer, which defines what they are allowed to feed.

All her kids are working for the family business now. They had left home early, went away or abroad. During their school time they had suffered, beeing teased and picked on by other kids for having goats at home. Irish people at that time were not used to eat much cheese, let alone goat cheese. Many people thought their mother was mad. No surprise they blamed their mother for spending more time with the goats than with them. They all said they had enough of goats for a lifetime.

As the years passed by thy realized that mother's business plan and philosophy was not bad at all, and one after the other returned to become part of the family business.

A few facts: A goat produces about 2000 l milk a year. With 6 l milk you can produce 1 kg soft cheese and for 1kg hard cheese you need 10 l milk. Goats usually give birth to twins or even triplet goatlings.

Ardsallagh Goat Cheese has won several food awards and if you like to read more about it follow the link: www.ardsallaghgoat.com