Macadamia Goat Cheese
Goat cheese was unknown in the United States until Laura Chenel came on the scene in the late 1970s. Raised in Sonoma in a farming family, she returned from a fact-finding trip to France to make her own chèvre. Another young woman, named Alice Walters, placed a standing order for her French-inspired restaurant in Berkeley, Chez Panisse, and the fromagerie took off. This warm goat-cheese appetizer salutes them both.
MAKES 6–8 SERVINGS
½ cup/100 g sugar
¼ cup/60 ml tamari or soy sauce
2 tsp jalapeño chile, seeded and minced
1 tsp Asian sesame oil
1 ripe mango, pitted, peeled, and
cut into ½-in./12-mm dice
2 Tbsp red bell pepper, diced (¼-in./6 mm)
2 Tbsp green onion, white and green parts, thinly sliced on
a sharp diagonal
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp jalapeño chile, seeded and minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
5 oz./140 g fresh white goat
cheese, preferably Laura Chenel Chévre
1/3 cup/35 g macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp clarified butter
Crisp flatbread, for serving