Q & A with Cheesemaker Tasia Malakasis

Q. Please tell us about Belle Chevre.

A. Belle Chevre is a small Alabama creamery that has been hand-crafting fine French style goat’s milk cheeses for 25 years. Our cheeses have  garnered nearly 100 national awards from American Cheese Society and other famed institutions. Oh, and we like to play with our food which has resulted in creative new lines of cheeses that are getting all kinds of wonderful attention.

Q. You left a corporate city job to move to Alabama and make cheese. What was it about making cheese that inspired you to buy the company?

A. I knew I wanted to do something with my passion for food. But the rest is pure coincidence. In Dean & Deluca in New York City, I picked up a cheese and was stunned to learn that the small but highly renowned creamery, Belle Chevre, was located next to my childhood home in Elkmont, Alabama. After spending time learning from Liz Parnell, the previous owner, I fell in love with the art of cheesemaking, the hands-on nature of it, the way it feels so ancient but is always changing and dynamic.

Q. How have you changed Belle Chevre since you bought it? And what makes Belle Chevre different?

A. Since I acquired Belle Chevre in 2007, we have burgeoned from an excellent, tiny, traditional creamery to an excellent, tiny, playful creamery dedicated to making goat cheese the right way, with our hands, but determined to have fun! I rebranded the company to take on a capricious look and feel that is approachable and the complete opposite of ‘exclusive.’ I want hand-crafted foods to be in reach of all people.

I've created several award-winning and highly lauded cheeses (recognized by everyone from Oprah to Garden & Gun and Southern Living), such as our sweet breakfast cheeses, which are based on the French tradition of stirring preserves or honey into goat cheese.

Q. Tell us about your new cookbook Tasia’s Table:

A. Tasia's Table marks the culmination of the meals enjoyed growing up in the South with a Greek family. It's also a highly personal  account of my Sunday Supper tradition, where I invite friends, family, neighbors and visitors to sit around a big table with great food and even better conversation.

Tips & Advice

5 Reasons To Eat Goat Cheese

1) It's sexy, skinny, smart. Goat cheese is lower in both fat and calories compared to similar cow's milk cheeses.

2) The versatile nature of goat's cheese has to be one the best reasons for always keeping it around. It's soft, spreadable, fry-able, and goes easily from sweet to savory recipes. It's like the little black dress of cheese.

3) Goat cheese is full of probiotics, and also higher in most vitamins and nutrients than other cheeses.

4) If you have lactose intolerance or diners that do, goat's cheese is often something that they can stomach. It's easier to digest than cow's cheeses.

5) When you choose goat cheese, you avoid several of the problems associated with the dairy industry/cow's milk cheeses, such as contamination by dangerous steroids like RbGH.

Serving & Pairing Tips

Sweet

I don't have a sweet tooth, but I eat pounds and pounds of our honey chevre. My favorite way to enjoy it is on Anna's Ginger Thins with a strawberry or two on top. I'm so obsessed that we made a video.

Savory

For quick entertaining, I always keep a log in the fridge. In a snap it can be topped with a pepper jelly or pickled beets, or even rolled in a mix of dried herbs or pepper flakes, for a delicious app-so easy.

Pairing

Recently I've taken to showcasing our cheese next to liquors, like scotch, instead of wines. It's a new and interesting taste experience.

Cheesemaker’s Recommendations

Find | Cheese Shops

New Orleans | St. James Cheese Company

My favorite cheese shops are the ones with passionate owners. For example, St. James Cheese Co. I love NOLA and I love the owners of this fine cheese shop. Richard and his staff take great care of their customers.  They have wonderful foods they prepare with their cheeses and you can hang out with them all day tasting and chatting it up.  

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Whole Foods

I love Whole Foods. They are a big store, but their cheese mongers really know their products. They take great care to come see us, learn about what we do and why we do it and support our efforts. It really is nice from a cheese makers point of view and also for a consumer's. Try it out and see how much they know about the hundreds of cheeses they carry!

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Eat | Restaurants in Huntsville

Mezza Luna

Order the tomato salad during the summer months. Customers wait all year for this dish!

Sitar Indian Restaurant

In Huntsville, I would say that I mostly go out for ethnic foods because I tend to cook more than not. I don't cook Indian or Korean or Vietnamese so when I crave those things it is out I go. I adore Sitar Indian restaurant!  

Viet Huong

Often I just have to have a bowl of pho and I head to Viet Huong.

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Eat | Restaurants in New York

Casa Mono

Spectacular goat cheese and pumpkin croquetas at Casa Mono.

Momofuku Ko

The goat cheese ice cream at Momofuku Ko is incredible, with pistachio cubes and rhubarb. That will be a trend, cheese ice cream.

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Eat | Restaurants in Charleston, SC

Husk

At Husk, Sean Brock's place in Charleston, it's great to go and ask for a plate of whatever cheeses they have in house. You know you're getting something artisan and local (to the South), like some great Tennessee cheddar or even house-made ricotta.

[See details.]

Recipes

- Strawberry and Fromage Blanc Tarts with Balsamic Reduction

- Grilled Greek Kiss (Goat Cheese Stuffed Grape Leaves)

Recommendations

Details of Tasia Malakasis’ recommendations for where to buy cheese and where to eat.

City Guides

- Charleston, SC: Download

- New York, NY: Download