224 The 'Book of the Goat. 



and the rennet added and well stirred in with a wooden 

 spoon. When the curds have formed, which occupies about 

 a quarter of an hour in summer, and double that time in 

 winter, they are poured on clean cloths stretched over 

 round boxes, placed on straw, and left to drain. 

 On being removed, the cheeses are again laid 

 upon straw, and salt is sprinkled over them. The 

 next day they are turned, the cloth is replaced by a clean 

 one, and the other side of the cheeses salted. This process 

 is repeated for several days until the cheeses become 

 sufficiently firm. They are then transferred to wicker 

 baskets and suspended to the ceiling by means of a cord 

 passed over a pulley. Here they remain for about fifteen 

 days to dry, after which they are fit for consumption. It 

 is a common practice to soak them in white wine for a 

 day or so before being eaten; and, in order to soften 

 them, they are turned over daily, so as to lie on each side 

 alternately. 



LEVROUX CHEESE. At the little town of Levroux, in 

 the department of Indre, some excellent cheeses are made 

 which deserve to be better known. They have the form of 

 small square bricks, and are composed of three parts goats' 

 to one part cows' milk. They are made very much like 

 those last described, but before being exposed for sale they 

 are treated in a very singular manner : that is, they are 

 steeped several times in melted butter in which onions 

 have been fried, the butter being then passed through 

 a woollen cloth to remove all particles of onion. They 

 undergo this treatment of soaking two or three times in 

 the course of a week, the object being to soften them and 

 improve their flavour. The cheeses are subsequently 

 enveloped in chestnut leaves or vine leaves, and eight or 

 ten of them placed together in a brown earthenware jar. 



ST. MARCELIN CHEESE. For the details of manufac- 

 ture of this cheese I am indebted to Mr. H. Handley 



