{"id":286,"date":"2013-09-24T11:05:01","date_gmt":"2013-09-24T11:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/?p=286"},"modified":"2013-09-24T11:05:01","modified_gmt":"2013-09-24T11:05:01","slug":"south-african-raw-milk-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/?p=286","title":{"rendered":"South African Raw Milk Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHEESE is an international event organized by Slow Food and is held every two years in my small town of Bra (population: 30,000).\u00a0 Over four days visitors can explore every quality cheese on the planet, and also sample beer, wine, and specialty street foods from far and near.<\/p>\n

Thus, this weekend over 150,000 people ventured to Piemonte from all over the world for one reason. Formaggio.<\/p>\n

With guidance from my classmates, I reserved my space in a Taste Workshop back in June, as they sell out months before the event takes place. I was enticed by many listings, \u201cComt\u00e9 and Grenache\u201d – \u201cArtisanal Mountain Cheeses\u201d – \u201cItalian Pubs: Beer & Cheese\u201d but, this Saturday, I found myself sitting in a session on \u201cRaw Milk of South Africa.\u201d With a plate of cheese and three glasses of wine, it was just like another day at uni\u2026<\/p>\n

Six years ago I traveled to South Africa for two weeks and strangely I don\u2019t remember having much, if any, cheese. I distinctly remember the fish and the game, and of course the wines, but cheese was not something that stuck out to me.\u00a0 Perhaps that is because, as I learned in this session, raw milk cheeses of South Africa are extremely isolated and only now taking hold, even within their own nation. In the last few years, though, the South Africa cheese scene has finally hit the forefront of gastronomy with a very special focus on artisan producers. For this reason, four SA cheese-makers shared with us their stories (and their cheese!), and they were all simply thrilled to be at such a huge international event, with the opportunity to share with the world their great work.<\/p>\n

South Africa is a nation with many varying climates, from the ocean to the desert to the sub-tropical; it is a nation that offers diverse conditions for dairy farms, as was evidenced by the various cheeses we sampled.\u00a0 With this recent growth in number of producers has also come improved quality and wider variety, which will hopefully appeal to a wider base of consumers. For now, South Africa has me hooked on these highlights from the tasting:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0Karoo Crumble<\/strong> – Langbaken<\/em>\u2013 A raw milk, natural rind, cows milk cheese. This was light, slightly dry, and very smooth on the mouth. The panel compared it to a cheddar, but I found it less dense and more buttery. Delicious.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0Ash Camembert –<\/strong> Langbaken<\/em> \u2013 This twist on the classic Camembert is made with milk from the same cow\u2019s as the first. A very soft cheese, almost runny in the middle, it had an elegant intensity that literally melted onto your tongue. Paired with a flowery and powerful Trebbiano, this combination was to die for!<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Ficksburger<\/strong> – Green Goose Organics<\/em> \u2013 This was far and away my favorite. A firm and tangy cheese with a matured rind, the center of this cheese had a beautiful texture and a strong aroma of yeast.\u00a0 In the French style, this cheese offered a perfect balance to me and left a sweet nuttiness on my tongue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHEESE is an international event organized by Slow Food and is held every two years in my small town of Bra (population: 30,000).\u00a0 Over four days visitors can explore every quality cheese on the planet, and also sample beer, wine, and specialty street foods from far and near. Thus, this weekend over 150,000 people ventured… Continue reading South African Raw Milk Cheese<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=286"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293,"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions\/293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twiceifilikeit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}