Cheese, please, Louise!

  You may know that the Poitou Charentes and in particular, Deux Sevres, where we live, is well-known for its goats` cheese. Our friend`s from other, less favoured regions often ask for us to bring some when visiting, so yesterday I visited the nearest Fromagerie at Villemain, a little village close to us. This is the local producer Georgelets, which I can thoroughly recommend. He has large numbers of goats, about 450 I think, though I may be wrong. They are kept indoors in large, airy barns with loads of food and immaculate litter and are of course machine-milked. They even have piped music!
  We wanted some cheeses `Sur Feuille` or on leaves as you can see above. The Fromagerie sells to the public as well as its considerable commercial sales, and when I went to buy four cheeses yesterday, I found that Stefan, a friend from Loubillé, was on the counter. I was able to ask him about the `leaves` used, which had intrigued me for some time.
  Stefan told me that the leaf is, in fact chataignier or sweet chestnut. I asked where these were obtained. He told me that they are cut from the trees in Autumn, after the first frosts, when they have turned brown but are still attached to the twigs. They are stored in nets in a dry, dark store-room. Of course, several thousand are needed to last the year! Are the leaves used just for decoration, I asked. No, no, was the reply. The leaf is put under the cheese when it is young and moist and absorb the excess moisture. As the cheese becomes more mature it returns the moisture to the drying cheese, adding to it a slight woody flavour. We always buy the young, milder cheeses, liking the sweeter flavour, so had never appreciated this point. It`s interesting to tap the knowledge of an expert and an enthusiast!
 
  Bye for now, all this talk of food has given me an appetite for my breakfast!