Chèvre Chaud à la Gasconne

This recipe is a nicely regional version of the classic warm goat’s cheese salad, and provides a splendid opportunity to experiment with the wide variety of goat’s cheeses available on French markets. As it ages, goat’s cheese gains in flavour but loses moisture, so for this recipe use small cheeses that are firm but not too dry. The naughtily named crottins (droppings) are best for this, rolled in ash, black pepper or herbs for extra flavour. Fran likes pitted black olives; I prefer the je