CHEESES FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA in the French Style
It's a long way from the rolling green pastures of the Normandy countryside . . . but Kangaroo Island's pristine environment is helping a number of islanders corner a growing slice of the national and international specialist food market.
Islanders like Mos (Moz) Howard at Farmhouse Cheeses near Penneshaw. With a little help from his herd of cows, Mos produces two distinctly French style cheeses - Brie and Camembert.
And what helps make these cheeses unique, is Mos's “hands-on” quality control.
“Exceptionally fresh. We won't make cheese out of anything more than, see sort of about fourteen hours old. Yer it is. It's very fresh”.
“And it is only your milk that you use in your cheese”?
“Absolutely”
“It's easier to control and that sort of thing, you know where you have been . . . so to speak”.
“Yes”.
After pasteurisation it's into the cheesery and stainless steel vats.
“It's very soft isn't it?”
“It is extremely soft”
In keeping with the traditional recipe, rennet has been added to the milk to make it set. Cultures and mould spores also go in. And, just like the nursery rhyme we end up with curds and whey. The curds are tipped into containers - then time and gravity take over.
“The more you stir it, the more whey comes out. And you'll try and make a really dry Cheese where brie and camembert are fairly moist cheeses so the chunks are quite large”.
In fact, a brie or camembert from cow to consumer can take as little as two days, whereas a cheddar can take as long as twelve months.
After they've been drained they get a quick bath in a saline solution.
“Now Lisa we're going to salt these cheeses and all we do is put them in this solution which is twenty-five percent brine solution and they stay in there for about an hour and that's how they get their salt”.
“So it just absorbs slowly into the cheese?”
“Yes, you can actually get an effect where some of the salt goes in and some of the whey comes out”.
The next stop in the production line is the cool room.
“So Lisa, this is the mould growing room. This is where all the cheeses grow the mould on them from the very young to the very oldest. As they grow the mould gradually gets thicker and thicker.”
The mould creates a chemical reaction with the cheese curd, ripening each from the outside. That's why a young camembert or brie is runny at the edge but very firm in the middle.
“Time will cure all”.
“So the ideal time for eating a brie is?”
“Probably about five days, just before the best before date expires”
“Really, that close to it though?”
"Oh, yer, even a week after is probably good”
“Really?”
“Yes”
As with most things in life, camembert styles can vary. There are lots of different styles around and they don't all have to be made from cow's milk either. At Udder Delights in Lobethal, for example, Andrew and Sheree Dunford vary the theme by using goats milk.
The stainless steel vats and hair-nets may be new, but the basic cheese-making techniques have changed little since the 17th century. Legend has it the cheese was invented by a young French girl, Marie Harrell, who lived near the village of Camembert. Apparently, in 1790, during the French Revolution, she hid a catholic priest who refused to swear allegiance to the newborn republic.
The priest came from Brie, a region near Paris famous for its cheeses. In return for the shelter she offered him, he gave Marie the “secret” of his personal cheese recipe - Camembert was born!
Thanks to the advent of the railroad, Camembert cheeses conquered the markets of Paris and France. In 1890 the now-familiar small round wooden container was invented - and Camembert cheeses were exported throughout the world.
Whether the Marie Harel story is true or not, it doesn't alter the fact that Camembert's exclusive taste and consistency has made it a world favourite.
And you'll be able to taste it for yourself at the Normandy Festival at Carrick Hill. The Farmhouse range will be available at the festival as well as being stocked by major supermarkets and the Central Market in Adelaide. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
