GOATS CHEESE
Rustic goats cheese souffle
Goats cheese, as an ingredient, has long been one of my favourites. The tartness and bite mixed with the soft, creaminess is a combination that hits my taste buds for a six every time - I often refer to it as Viagra for my mouth!
When I was a youngun, my parents operated a small dairy in Drysdale in Victoria. They has about 20 does which they milked by hand. At a time when allergies were not openly discussed or accepted, they bagged the fresh milk, froze it and sold it to health food shops. The reason they entered the goats milk arena was in most part due to their 3 eldest children having strong allergic reactions to the common cow’s milk. When drinking the goats, this cut the effects down and also helped manage their asthma. Science tells us that the primary reason for this is that the fat molecules in goats milk are twenty times smaller than that of cows. Although a similar amount of lactose content the smaller fat molecules are broken down by the body a hell of a lot quicker.
When we shot FOOD TO EAT, I felt it was important to travel to one of Australia’s largest and most respected goats cheese dairies. We were fortunate enough to speak to Rugby Wilson, the manager of the dairy, who took us on a fantastic tour and filled our brains with everything that IS goats cheese.
Meredith Dairy is a truly amazing place. Although raining buckets and blowing an absolute gale, the farm is set in beautiful natural country settings. Covering 4000 acres, it runs 4000 goats and 4000 sheep producing goats cheese, curd and milk and also the most amazing sheep milk yoghurt. Just as we arrived, a truck carrying 16 pallets of goats cheese was just leaving. That is the shear (to steal a sheep term) amount of produce that this farm produces.
As Rugby introduced us to his beautiful goats we told us of the amazing work that goes into the farm. It is sustainably run - meaning that they use all natural waste to put back into the paddocks as fertiliser. They also crop their own seed which is turned into biodynamic fuel to supply electricity to all the five dairies and the cheese factory. They treat their goats and sheep with upmost care and use that motto that a well treated animal makes a wonderful product. Employing about 40 staff, it exports the cheese overseas and supplies all around Australia. If ever you have a chance to visit this amazing facility I urge you to do so.
I called upon one of my old chef buddies, Simon Ely from lifeguards@200 to come along to the food to eat kitchen and whip up an awesome little rustic goats cheese soufflé. Then I whip up a sexy goats cheese pasta salad for the crews lunch.
When I was a youngun, my parents operated a small dairy in Drysdale in Victoria. They has about 20 does which they milked by hand. At a time when allergies were not openly discussed or accepted, they bagged the fresh milk, froze it and sold it to health food shops. The reason they entered the goats milk arena was in most part due to their 3 eldest children having strong allergic reactions to the common cow’s milk. When drinking the goats, this cut the effects down and also helped manage their asthma. Science tells us that the primary reason for this is that the fat molecules in goats milk are twenty times smaller than that of cows. Although a similar amount of lactose content the smaller fat molecules are broken down by the body a hell of a lot quicker.
When we shot FOOD TO EAT, I felt it was important to travel to one of Australia’s largest and most respected goats cheese dairies. We were fortunate enough to speak to Rugby Wilson, the manager of the dairy, who took us on a fantastic tour and filled our brains with everything that IS goats cheese.
Meredith Dairy is a truly amazing place. Although raining buckets and blowing an absolute gale, the farm is set in beautiful natural country settings. Covering 4000 acres, it runs 4000 goats and 4000 sheep producing goats cheese, curd and milk and also the most amazing sheep milk yoghurt. Just as we arrived, a truck carrying 16 pallets of goats cheese was just leaving. That is the shear (to steal a sheep term) amount of produce that this farm produces.
As Rugby introduced us to his beautiful goats we told us of the amazing work that goes into the farm. It is sustainably run - meaning that they use all natural waste to put back into the paddocks as fertiliser. They also crop their own seed which is turned into biodynamic fuel to supply electricity to all the five dairies and the cheese factory. They treat their goats and sheep with upmost care and use that motto that a well treated animal makes a wonderful product. Employing about 40 staff, it exports the cheese overseas and supplies all around Australia. If ever you have a chance to visit this amazing facility I urge you to do so.
I called upon one of my old chef buddies, Simon Ely from lifeguards@200 to come along to the food to eat kitchen and whip up an awesome little rustic goats cheese soufflé. Then I whip up a sexy goats cheese pasta salad for the crews lunch.
Chevre, pesto and rigatoni salad
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