From goat’s curd to gruyere, these cheesmakers have winning formulas sure to impress discerning cheese lovers. Holy Goat Made at the Sutton Grange Organic farm near Bendigo in Victoria, Holy Goat (at about $130/kg) is universally regarded as one of the best cheeses in Australia by top chefs, including Michael Ryan from Provenance in Beechworth. The cheeses, which include fromage frais and curd cheeses, are made using organic goat’s milk from the farm and use slow lactic acid fermentation. The […]
Month: July 2010
How To Make Cheese
There are many perceptions of the rustic, bucolic lifestyle of the artisan cheesemaker. But the reality is very different to how the mass dairy marketers would have us see it in their advertising and promotions. Even the most boutique of cheesemakers in Australia has more in common with the hygiene of an operating theatre than a rustic shed in France. The reality is shiny, spotless stainless steel surfaces, an environment that can be hosed down, white rubber boots, white coats […]
How Cheese Got Its Stink
Cheese has been around a long time. Nobody is quite sure how long but perhaps 5000 to 12,000 years, probably originating from the Middle East where milk products were curdled and drained of whey and preserved with salt making something a bit like the fetta we know today. In Australia, cheese has been around since the first fleet. It is a mere 160 years since the first cheesemaking equipment arrived from England and the first dairy co-operatives formed in the […]
The Raw Milk Debate
Raw milk dairy is one of those touchy subjects that decays into political debate. It is difficult to get to the bottom of whether or not raw milk products are a danger to anybody. Many artisan cheesemakers, such as Nick Haddow at the Bruny Island Cheese Company [pictured], say not; the Australian Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association says raw milk is irrelevant; and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FANZ) says it is downright dangerous. The truth is that in Europe raw milk […]