With the arrival of baby goats, spring is back and the new season for goat cheese starts. Typically, fresh goat cheeses are more creamy during spring.
A group of cheese influencers decided to pay tribute to goat cheese by posting simultaneously on instagram on April 24, 9 AM CT.
Instagram collab
The idea was simple: Post a pairing or a recipe. Of course the results are as different as the persons behind – take a look at the photos below. I invite you to visit the instagram profiles and read about the goat cheese post and see more cheese shots.
For the fifth time and all over the world it is International Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day. The organisation Oldways Cheese Coalition stands behind.
What is raw milk?
When you make cheese out of raw milk, the milk is not heat treated (for instance pasteurized or thermised). In stead the temperature is kept at the level of the temperature of the cow which is around 37°C / 99°F.
Milk is from nature’s side filled with natural bacteria and microorganisms. Some of these are flavor-carrying bacteria and will add depth and complexity to the taste of the raw milk cheese.
Some bacteria can under wrong circumstances develop harmful bacteria and therefore we sometimes find restrictions on raw milk cheeses. Danish dairies for instance need dispensations from the authorities, and raw milk cheeses can only be sold in the US if they are matured more than 60 days.
Well known raw milk cheeses
You might not think about it, but many European cheeses are made of raw milk. Parmesan (parmigiano reggiano) and grana padano, comté and roquefort must according to their DOP / AOP be made of raw milk. Other cheeses can be found in raw milk or pasteurized milk versions such as manchego DOP and taleggio DOP. And yet others such as emmental, gouda, and cheddar can be found with or without DOP label and with both milk treatments.
Tingling on the tongue
Sometimes you feel a small tingling on the tongue when you eat raw milk cheeses, especially some of the more matured versions.
This is due to histamine which comes out when certain aminoacids (protein) is broken down during maturation. As the milk hasn’t been heat treated it contains more milk acid bacterias which produces this reaction. Histamine in small doses is no problem, it just gives you this delightful mouth feeling.
Raw milk cheese and tradition
Apart from taste, some people also connect raw milk cheese with culture and tradition as this was the original way to produce cheese before we began to pasteurize milk in the 19th century. In other words, raw milk cheeses is part of our gastronomic heritage.
Enjoy a raw milk cheese today on this fifth International Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day!
I have taken one week out of my life and dedicated it to Dutch cheese. Together with a group of American curd nerds, I am on my first Cheese Journey.
When I’m back home I will serve the full experience garnished with information and insights. For now, I will give you some snaps from our first days. Life is gouda!
Or: There is always a cheese moment around the corner.
My husband and I were on a short getaway in Andalusia (south of Spain). We were driving around in the mountains when he suddenly stopped the car and pointed at a sign. It was a little rusty but the words were clear: Four kilometers (2.5 miles) away was the farm dairy Cortijo Júrtiga. Of course we had to check it out and turned onto a dirt road.
Cool mountain air and silence met us when we stopped. A dog was barking somewhere and a motor was running. We saw several buildings and found the door to the cheese shop.
Welcome
Julia opened the door. She invited us into the small shop and told us about the family farm where they make goat cheese of unpasteurized milk from their own goats. They produce the Spanish fresh cheese requesón (ricotta style) as well as small round cheeses matured for 60 days. The cheeses mature as they are or with black pepper, paprika, thyme, rosemary or in olive oil.
While we tasted, she explained that the farm had been in the family for many years and they had always had a few goats and produced cheese for their own consumption. Six or seven years ago they started to make cheese to sell and it has grown year by year. She is the one who converts milk to cheese every day at 7 am in the small dairy.
Goat cycle
Today the family owns 1400 goats of the local breed Granadino-Murciano, renowned for its milk. They give 1½-2 liters milk pr milking (0.4-0.5 gallons) for 5-6 months a year (in total 500-600 liter per year or 130-160 gallons). In order to have milk all year round they make sure the cycles are parallel.
Every single day two shepherds take the goats out to feed in the area among oaks and olive trees. In the late afternoon they head home for the second milking. The cheeses don’t have an organic label but they might as well…
Notice that the goats have eaten all they have within their reachGrass turns to hay and is given to the goats. Everything is made by the family.
Cheese and
pepper
Of course we bought several cheeses. The combination of the fresh acidic goat cheese and warm pepper is quite interesting.
Do you want to see the farm dairy?
If you are in Andalusia you can find your way to the small diary. Check out how right here.
