Tag: artisan

  • Top 10 from an alpine cheese journey

    Top 10 from an alpine cheese journey

    Recently, I read a quote which made so much sense to me:

    Choose to work with what you love,
    and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.

    Especially it made sense when I traveled as ‘cheese educator’ with Cheese Journeys to the French and Swiss Alps. Of course, the days were long and the nights a bit short at times, but what really mattered were all the stunning cheese experiences we had throughout our journey.

    What is Cheese Journeys?

    Behind the name you find American Anna Juhl. She worked many years as a nurse. One day, her life took a turn when she ‘coincidentally’ bought a cheese shop. It became the starting point for the whole family’s passion for cheese and the people making it.

    Today, she organizes cheese tours for Americans and others who want to have unique and ‘behind-the-scenes’ experiences close to the producers of some of Europe’s best, artisanal cheeses.

    It is rather difficult to condense 12 days of tightly packed program in a few words. That’s why you will get my Top 10 experiences. The order is not prioritized, but still my personal favourites come at the end ☺

    Top 10: Savoie wine and terroir

    Nursery for vines

    Savoie is not particularly known for its wines, and vineyards isn’t the most common sight in this mountainous region. Typically, the rows of vines climb up the foothills of a mountain. The old glacial soil is an important part of the terroir of the wines in this area.

    We visited Maison Philippe Grissard, which has been making wine for three generations and, not least, helped to give new life to rare or almost extinct vines, not just in Savoie but also throughout France and the rest of the world.

    At the lake

    We also visited the winery Xavier Jacqueline, where a father and two daughters grow organic and biodynamic grapes on six hectares of land spread over several areas, one in the middle of the city of Aix les Bains. In the microclimate around Lac du Bourget, the temperature never drops below the freezing point.

    The family business started from scratch 35 years ago by planting vines. Today, they produce their wine in a wine cellar from 1895.

    Top 9: Wine and cheese tasting in the cellar of our château

    On the welcome evening, we transformed the dark cellar into a cozy French bistro, where we held the first cheese tasting of the trip. It was a welcome to the Savoie region, where we greeted the local cheeses. We got to know several of them better later in the week visiting cows and dairies. I introduced the cheeses together with Anne Laure from Savoie Touch Wine, who was responsible for the evening’s wines.

    On the plate (starting ‘at 12′): Sainte Maure de Tourraine (the only non-local cheese), Persillé de Tigne, Reblochon in two ages, Tommette de Chèvre, Tome des Bauges, Beaufort and Bleu du Val d’ Aillon.

    Top 8: Cow bell producer

    Cowbells are closely linked with the Alps, the Jura Mountains and the other mountain regions. Because if you can’t hear the bells, how will you find your cows? We visited the Fonderie Charles Obertin – a forge that has cast bronze bells since 1834. In the shop next door they sell bells. Small bells, big bells. Old bells, new bells. For cows, for the door, for the dog, for decorations, for the key ring. Here is everything the heart desires – when it comes to bells.

    Top 7: Absinthe distillery

    Absinthe and other liqueurs are produced in old copper kettles and fine wooden barrels at a small distillery in Pontarlier. The green drink, which is still shrouded in mystery today, is among other ingredients made of the absinthe plant growing nearby. The aromatic plant has been used as medicine throughout the ages. In the 19th century, absinthe was a popular drink with high percentages, but ‘The Green Fairy’ also gained a reputation for leading to madness and what was worse. In 1914, the drink was banned.

    In 2001, absinthe was recreated, and with a lower alcohol percentage and now legalized, you can once again buy and enjoy the green drink, which also contains green anise seeds.

    Top 6: Melted cheese

    It is impossible not to come across melted cheese when you are in the Alps and the Jura mountains. And it comes in many forms, generous portions and always made with local cheeses. Fondue, raclette, tartiflette, reblochonnade (raclette made from reblochon), mont d’or, manigodine (cheese with spruce belt) – there are many variations, and we tasted them all.

    Top 5: Visting an affineur

    Making cheese is one thing. Maturing the cheese is something else. In the Alps and the Jura mountains, cheese production takes place for a large part of the year up in the heights, and the small dairies typically produce only a few cheeses per day. In return, they entrust the further fate of the cheeses to the hands of the knowledgeable affineurs.

    The affineur’s work is also a craft. Each cheese is cared for and given the optimal conditions to bring out the best taste, texture and personality.

    At Paccard in the Jura Mountains, we experienced the ripening cellar, where they refine local cheeses such as reblochon, abondance, tommes and raclette.

    Top 4: Coziness at our château

    The setting of a cheese journey is always unique. The Alps are no exception. The first part of the trip was based at our own château.

    Le Château St. Philippe was originally built as a monastery in 1032. It was literally located in the middle of a Roman road and therefore tolls could be collected from people passing by. A spring runs on/under the property and at one point powered a small mill. As in other places, the monks of the Middle Ages helped to develop local agriculture and foods, and who knows?! Perhaps cheeses were once produced at the château.

    The breath of history

    In recent decades, the current owners have carefully restored the château. As I walked down the long corridor, up the narrow staircase or around the chilly cellar, I wished the walls could tell what they have seen. For example, when the castle was accommodation for German troops during the Second World War.

    We enjoyed the château as the beautiful setting for our workshops. Our two chefs taught chocolate tempering. My workshops were about food photography and the art of building a cheese board.

    Top 3: Visit to dairy and affineur

    The Jura mountains are home to the comté cheese, which is the most consumed AOP cheese in France. 1.7 million cheese wheels are produced each year in small dairies in the designated area. The dairies (small and larger) send their cheeses to an affineur, who refines the products to perfection.

    We visited both a dairy and an affineur who matured comté wheels in the cellar of an old military fort. It was such a special experience which you can read about in details right here.

    Top 2: Beaufort – at the top of the world

    The alpine cheese Beaufort comes in various ‘qualities’ depending on which milk is used. When the cheese is produced way up in the Alps during high summer, the cheese is called ‘beaufort châlet d’alpage’.

    We visited the married couple Nathalie and Jean François at the end of a dirt road high up in the mountains. Here we experienced cheese making in open copper vats, had lunch at a long table with a view of snow-capped Mont Blanc, while the cowbells tinkled softly in the distance.

    This experience, too, was so special that I had to dedicate a separate blog post to it. I hope you will enjoy it.

    Top 1: Cow parade

    The highlight of the trip was perhaps the long-awaited cow parade. Because when the cows are taken down from the heights in early autumn, it turns into a festive event. Dressed in handsome hats and beautiful flowers, the cows are accompanied by nicely dressed people from the farm to the town. We crossed the border into Switzerland and were with them all the way. We decorated the cows, we followed them on the road, and we watched them arrive in the small town, which this day had been transformed into a giant cheese party.

    Read more here – and see more dressed up ladies.

    Want to read about other Cheese Journeys experiences?

    I have also blogged about a trip to Holland and England.

    PS. Yes, it’s me with the baguettes (together with Jilly and Anna)
  • Spanish goat cheese with pepper

    Spanish goat cheese with pepper

    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.

    Queseria Cortijo Jurtiga
    Queseria Cortijo Jurtiga

    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.

    Queseria Cortijo Jurtiga
    Queseria Cortijo Jurtiga

    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.

    Queseria Cortijo Jurtiga

    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…

    Queseria Cortijo Jurtiga
    Notice that the goats have eaten all they have within their reach
    Queseria Cortijo Jurtiga
    Grass turns to hay and is given to the goats. Everything is made by the family.
    Queseria Cortijo Jurtiga
    Queseria Cortijo Jurtiga

    Cheese and pepper

    Of course we bought several cheeses. The combination of the fresh acidic goat cheese and warm pepper is quite interesting.

    Goat cheese with pepper
    Goat cheese with pepper
    Goat cheese with pepper

    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.

    Goat cheese with pepper

    You can also read more about the dairy here.

  • Bleu de Termignon – a rare piece of nature

    Bleu de Termignon – a rare piece of nature

    Coming back from our ski vacation last week we had a stopover in Oslo, Norway. We paid a visit to Mathallen, a gastronomic arena with a fine collection of delicatessen shops, places to eat and a vast program of cooking schools and other events.

    Of course, cheese was represented. Galopin is a cheese shop specializing in French cheeses and their shop was full of interesting artisan (fermier) cheeses.

    Galopin in Oslo

    Just a bit of blue

    Among the many fantastic and colourful cheeses, especially one called out. It looked a bit shy with its random small bits of blue veins. But when we tasted it, we were blown away. The name is Bleu de Termignon!

    A raw blue mould cheese from the Eastern part of the French Alps, close to the Italian border. Only few cheese makers produce it, and only between June and September where the cows are grazing high up in the Alps (more than 6500 ft of altitude) and thereby the cheese is made with ‘alpage milk’.

    Bleu de Termignon

    Taste explosion

    The taste had a bit of acidity and bitterness and lots of animality. A hint of sharpness and an large aftertaste. It is not a cheese for beginners 🙂 It produced a small prickle on the tongue which is typical for raw milk cheeses.

    The curds

    The texture was crumbly and creamy at the same time. If you take a close look, you can almost see small lumps of curds – and the process is also different from many other cheeses. Some of the fresh curds are mixed with older curds, and some are left in brine one or two days until they will be mixed with new fresh curds. The curd blocks are being minced which aerates the curds before they are mixed, salted and put into forms.

    In fact, it has some ressemblance with the cheddaring process and maybe that’s why I also thought of a very mature cheddar when I first tasted the cheese.

    Maybe blue – maybe not

    The blue mould in Bleu de Termignon also makes it different from other blue mould cheeses. Normally, you add blue mould culture to the fluid milk when you produce a blue cheese. Maybe the mould is made from the natural mould in the area (for instance from the caves of roquefort). The cheese is pierced with long needles in order for air to enter and blue mould can grow.

    In the case of Bleu de Termignons you do nothing. No blue mould culture. No needles. The mould is in the chalet and in the wooden tools. When the curds are minced, the mould finds it. Or it doesn’t. Sometimes the cheeses have no blue.

    I only know of cabrales which matures in caves in Asturias (Spain) where they don’t add mould nor pierce the cheese.

    Bleu de Termignon

    Colourful rind

    Nature has wrapped this cheese in a beautiful, quite thick rind dotted with all colours from the brown palette. The small red dots, ‘le fleur rouge’ is also found on the rocks in the area. This cheese is really a piece of nature.

    Bleu de Termignon

    Visit an alpine chalet

    The French affineur (one who matures cheese) Mons has made a really cool film showing the cheese life of one of the six producers. If you have 12 minutes, grab a coffee and take a break while you enjoy the scenery and see how nature and cheese making is closely connected. You will see how the milk from 18 cows gives three cheeses. Feel the weight of the buckets filled with milk when they are carried from the small barn to the dairy in the other chalet. See how Catherine’s arm muscles are growing when she minces the curds.

    A cheesemonger's nose

    The cheese monger from Oslo smells the Bleu de Termignon. He senses the story of the remote Alpin area, the cold, damp cheese cellar in the chalets and the wild herbs being eaten by the cows…

    Needless to say, if you ever come across Bleu de Termignon, please taste it! 🙂