Locavores and others yearning for an American alternative to French springtime goat's milk cheeses like Montrachet and Saint Maure de Touraine will most definitely delight in the ash-coated log from Pipe Dreams Farm in Greencastle, Penn.

This dense, 12-ounce "ashed log" of goat's milk cheese tastes mildly grassy, nutty and slightly peppery towards its edible ash rind. When the cheese is sliced, its paste exudes a seductive floral aroma with hints of citrus fruit. In a word, it's exquisite. But goat cheese is goat cheese, no?
Not with this fromage. Few venues rival Pipe Dreams Farm in terms of dedication both to animals and product quality. "I'm just walking my goats through the lush fields so they can munch freely on alfalfa, grasses and ivy," says Brad Parker, the passionate and quirky founder and owner of Pipe Dreams Farm. This rich springtime diet -- and plenty of it -- is precisely what makes the Saanen goats' cheese so flavorful, he explains. "The less they eat, the less they can be milked."

When asked how long the ashed log is aged, Parker explains that he works closely with his clients' (humans, not goats) taste buds and that it is "aged to order." So, if a chef or a cheese shop wants a more mild goat log, he'll age it for just a couple of weeks. He has aged cheeses for up to seven weeks to develop a more pungent flavor.

In other words, you may taste many versions of this cheese depending on where you find it. Nicholas Sharpe, chef at Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar in Washington, D.C., purchases the cheese when it's about two weeks old. "Because of its fresh flavor, rather than gamey taste," Sharpe explains, "the ashed log is versatile and can be served on its own or in a panini or in a pizza." Sharpe has purchased cheese from Parker for different D.C. restaurants over the years, and considers him an "old world artisan producer ... the first time he delivered cheeses, he came in a truck with a live goat sitting in the back."

Parker caught the cheese bug after spending his junior year of college abroad at the Alliance Française, deciding to pass the summer working on a goat farm. After a stint in the Peace Corps, Parker in 1991 decided to buy goats and some land in Pennsylvania, close to Philadelphia where his wife was going to graduate school. Ever since, he has been producing his distinct line of logs for restaurants and shops in the mid-Atlantic area.

The cheese is available at Washington, D.C. eateries including Sonoma, Mendocino, Palena and Obelisk, and can be purchased for $9 at the Farmer's Market in Gettysburg, Penn., on Saturdays. You can also pick it up at Penn Avenue Meat, the local gourmet deli in Hagerstown, Md. In short, there are many ways to get your goat.