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Tag: sheep’s cheese

  • Farina sheep farm

    Sheep which have been milked

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    This family-owned farm is located a few kilometres north of the farm La Selva of which it’s a part.

    The Farina family originates from Sardinia and have been here for three generations. They started this farm at the town of Talamone in 1992 and they moved here afterwards.

    Luigi Farina is running the farm and he defines himself as as shepherd by passion and vocation and he combines tradition with innovation.
    He’s the first shepherd in Italy who has started using a completely electronic system in order to monitor his flocks of sheep and the quality of their milk. Each sheep has a microchip inside its body, which identifies it and which lets the shepherds know its state of health and its production of milk by means of a smartphone. The presence of cells, whose size have increased and changed in the milk of the sheep, are also monitored and an alarm is turned on in case of modified cells. Next, the shepherd can immediately isolate this animal such that its milk doesn’t contaminate the good milk of the healthy sheep. Instead, a shepherd requires at least 3 days in order to discover if a sheep has sick cells, leading to that the milk has already been contaminated. Even though Luigi Farina considered this monitoring a hazard in the beginning, it has paid well off.

    Another novelty includes hiring sheep shearers from New Zealand in order to shear sheep in 40 seconds only without restraining them, avoiding that the animals get stressed.

    Like at La Selva, the well-being of the animals is of utmost importance for this farm and according to the brother of Luigi Farina, who is an employee at this farm, the sheep have a better life than us.

    According to Farina, his objectives are keeping the farm, be self-sufficient and remain autonomous, while making money is of secondary importance.
    This farm has an extension of 400 hectares and 60 of them are meadows, about 1300 sheep consisting of three types of sheep:

    ⦁ lacaune from France, high production of milk
    ⦁ assaf from Israel, high milk production, low level of casein (reference 1)
    ⦁ sarda from Sardinia, good production of milk

    Sheep’s milk contain about 7% fat, while cow’s milk contain about 3%.
    The sheep eat alfalfa , clover in meadows if possible. Instead, they are staying inside enclosures eating fresh hay and a mix of cereals when it’s dry. Naturally, the taste of sheep’s cheese varies in accordance with what they are eating.

    The sheep produce milk for their lambs and since they only get one lamb yearly, there are periods where they don’t produce any milk. Anyway, having three races of sheep, it’s possible to extend the milking season somewhat.

    The sheep are milked by means of milking machines where two employees milk two groups of sheep at the same time. The sheep enter the building where they are milked twice daily and they enter an enclosure when they are finished. Each milking machine is equipped with a computer which registers which sheep is being milked and how much milk it produces.

    Fortunately, there are natural springs providing water for the farm in this area.

    The milk is brought to a dairy which is called Frisi di Castel del Piano that Farina has chosen for its particular micro-climate. There, the milk is turned into fresh, semi-ripened and ripened sheep’s cheese. This farm guarantees the quality of its products which are certified by ICEA. The certification of ICEA includes:

    • the workers
    • the animals
    • the social aspects
    • the production chain

    The Farina family sell the cheeses themselves and transport it to local customers. However, a large part of the production is exported to Germany, but also to Austria, Japan and Iceland.

    Farina has installed solar cells near the house of his family and the production of 12 kW provides energy to 30 families.

  • Dairy cooperative «Caseificio Sociale Manciano»

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    Certainly, when people started migrating from the Middle East about 10.000 years ago, they brought domestic animals like cows, goats and sheep with them, meaning that the people who arrived at the Italian peninsula had the same type of domestic animals. Some mllennia later, the Romans arrived and their economy was always based on agriculture and animals husbandry and this continued until about 1900. With dry and hot summers and cold winters, sheep were well adapted to live in Tuscany, while life was more difficult for cows. When 21 sheep farmers founded the dairy cooperative Caseificio Sociale Manciano, they certainly brought along ancient traditions. Initially, the dairy was in Manciano, but it was moved to its present location in the 1990s because the dairy couldn’t expand where it was.

    At maximum, there were 600 members in the cooperative, but now there are 150. Before, there were many small producers with 20-30 sheep and 2-3 cows, while nowadays they have at least 200 animals. The farms are increasing because sometimes the children of the farmers don’t want to be farmers themselves, there are many rules which have to be followed, wolves are attacking sheep, the price of milk is ridiculously low and even more causes leading to that small farms are disappearing.

    I entered the dairy with a guide who showed me how cheese is made at this dairy. In fact, how to make cheese is the same for a shepherd with a flock of sheep and who makes cheese outside and a modern dairy. The differences consist of: the shepherd filters the milk by pouring it through a cloth into a bucket, while tank trucks bring milk from surrounding farms to the dairy where it is stored in big steel containers, then parts of the milk are subject to chemical and microbiological analyses in order to assure maximum quality and dietary security, the shepherd starts making cheese at once, while here the milk is pasteurised at 70°C, the shepherd collects cheese mass by hand and hangs it up by means of a piece of porous cloth, while here pieces of cheese mass is laid in porous plastic containers, the shepherd stores the cheeses on wooden shelves, while here cheeses are stored on shelves of steel in a large room at low temperature and high humiidty. The shepherd doesn’t package his cheeses, while here they are cleaned, packaged, weighed and labelled.

    However, the similarities consist of heating the milk to about 38°C, adding rennet , that is lactic acid bacteria, in order to let the milk coagulate, wait about half an hour in order to let the milk turn into curd, divide it into small pieces, extract the fat parts from the liquid part which is called whey , store the fat parts or cheese mass in porous containers and compressing the cheese to press out whey, next let the whey get out by means of gravitation, adding salt in order to kill dangerous bacteria and turn the cheeses around in order to expel more whey.

    During our visit, we could observe a woman who turned around containers with cheese incredibly fast. When she had turned all of them around, she put a lid on the metal container in which all the cheeses had been laid and filled it with vapour in order to get rid of whey. This operation has to be done 3-4 times and, according to my guide, it’s a delicate and difficult task. Obviously, there are still operations which are done better manually than by machine.

    Regarding adding salt, the cheeses are submerged in salt water.

    This dairy produces, among others, two sheep’s cheeses called Pecorino Toscano DOC, which is aged for at least 20 days, and Pecorino Toscano DOC Stagionato, which is aged for at least 120 days. A particular sheep’s cheese is called Pecorino Briaco, which after a short time of aging, is totally immersed in pomace or marc inside special types of containers for 20 to 30 days. This operation ensures that the fragrance of the marc is given to the cheese.

    This dairy also makes a particular type of Pecorino Toscano DOC with the additional label «Amici di cuore» meaning «heart’s friends» because people who eat it, will, in general get a lower level of cholesterol. This is obtained in collaboration with scientists from the University of Pisa who have composed a mixture of soya beans, seeds of flax and olive oil. Specifically, when sheep eat a mixture of these ingredients, their milk contains more unsaturated fat and less saturated fat, which are harmful for people with high levelsof cholesterol.

    This dairy has also carried out a programme for lowering their emissions of carbon dioxide in order to minimise their contribution to the greenhouse effect.

  • Joseba Insausti – shepherd

    Milking sheep

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    My guide asked Jose Ramon Aguirre «Marron», a versatile man (photographer, alpinist and blogger) in charge of Lizarrusti House  (Environmental Center, Tavern and Hostel) in the Natural Park of Aralar to bring us by car from the town of Ataun to the Aralar mountain range via curvy mountain roads and through forests until we reached a lovely area with rolling hills and meadows where horses, cows and sheep were grazing. Finally, we arrived at the mortared stone house of Joseba Insausti, a shepherd only 30 years old, but who has already been doing this work for 19 years, an early start indeed!. Since this area is usually covered by several metres of snow in winter, local farmers practise transhumance, that is they bring their animals in a van to the mountains in late spring and walk down to the valleys in autumn. Transhumance, man bringing animals to the mountains in summer and to the valleys in winter, has been practised for millennia worldwide, but nowadays it is done only in a few a places due to factors like national borders, heavily trafficked roads, only a few who want to be a shepherd, etc.

    Having entered the house, Jose Ramón led us through the house to a small annex where Joseba was milking his Latxa sheep manually. All the sheep were inside an enclosure next to the house and Joseba ordered his shepherd dog to chase the sheep against him by issuing short, sharp commands in Basque. Then, the sheep had to enter a small cage one by one. Depending on if it was a lamb or a ewe, he let the first ones pass, while he closed a small gate if it was a ewe. In the latter case, he milked it by hand, letting the milk into a bucket. When he was finished, he opened the gate such that the ewe could pass. This procedure was repeated until the bucket was full at which moment he poured its contents into a container through a filter of porous cloth. Then, he went back to his milking place and let the next sheep enter the cage. As the number of sheep decreased, the remaining ones weren’t entering the cage willingly, making Joseba order his shepherd dog more frequently to move the sheep against the cage.

    Having milked all the sheep, he brought the milk container to the other part of the hut where there was a small dairy, which is called Otatza de Ordizia. There, he poured the contents of the container through another filter into a rectangular vessel. Having added rennet, which is used to turn milk into curd, he lit a gas fire below the vessel to heat the milk to about 38ºC and stirred the milk for some time. Then, we had to wait for about for about half an hour until the milk started coagulating, meaning it was being turned into curd.

    Afterwards, he used a utensil, which is commonly called a harp or a guitar, because it consists of a metal frame crossed by parallel wires. Moving the harp through the curd in various directions, it is broken up into solid and liquid parts. Next, he spent some time stirring the mixture in order to make it even. Finally, he put a a perforated metal plate into the container and pressed it towards the mixture such that the liquid parts, called whey, flowed out through the holes in the plate, while the solid parts remained. Compressing the solid parts further, a thick block of cheese mass was formed, while the whey was removed by compressing the cheese mass. Next, he used a knife to cut up the cheese mass in cubes with a length of about 12 cm, which he put into circular containers. However, he had already put a porous piece of cloth in each container such that it would be easier to extract the cheese mass from the container at a later date. At last, he put first a label to get traceability, then a a lid on each circular container and put all of them under pressure to press out as much whey as possible.

    Joseba brings his sheep to the mountains in early May and he brings them back to the lowlands in November. He milks the sheep twice daily and he works 12-hour days. There are lots of mortared stone houses in this area and he told my guide that up to 47 shepherds may be staying in this area in season. During our stay, horses and cattle were walking around freely and a car with a trailer even brought two cows, which were released in the same area.

    He has two labels for his cheeses: one for mountain cheese and one for valley cheese. In 2015, he won two prizes: the first prize for the best sheep cheese of Spain and the first prize in «Premio Mejores Quesos Españoles» or «Best Spanish Cheeses Award».

    He considers what he’s doing not a job, but a way of life.

  • Aranburu brothers – sheep farmers

    A sheep, which has been milked, is released

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    After having left the Basazabal farm, we went to another sheep farm a short drive away. This farm is being run by 3 brothers, Jesús, Juanjo and Jose Luis, while Mª Angeles is also helping them.

    The farm has 1200 sheep and 3 hired workers were milking the sheep by means of machines during our visit. 700 of the sheep had been brought by car to the Urbia mountain range in the beginning of May and the rest would be brought up to the same place a few days after our visit.

    After having watched some of the sheep being milked by machines, Ms Angeles invited us to join her on a car trip to the cabin her family is renting from the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa. On our way up, we saw several mortared stone houses, besides horses and cows which were free to walk wherever they wanted.

    Having arrived at the house, which the Aranburu family is renting, Ms Angeles with help from my guide cooked a delicious meal, consisting of red beans with chorizo and local green peppers «guindillas de Ibarra», lamb chops, a junket called «cuajada» made with fresh ewe‘s milk and finished by a cup of coffee.

    On our return trip, Mª Angeles drove us to a path, which led to a beautiful beechwood where sunrays could only reach the ground through small holes in the canopy. Having passed the forest, we arrived at a natural tunnel called «Tunel de San Adrian»  named after St Adrian’s chapel inside the tunnel. Actually, we were hiking a small part of the St James Way and the Royal Way used by Spanish royalty in times past.

    When we arrived at a road, Mª Angeles arrived shortly afterwards and she kindly drove us to the dairy where we met the rest of her family. This dairy is much bigger than the others we visited. The Aranburu family like to show how they make cheese to visitors. That is why they have set aside a big room where the process from milk to cheese is shown and where the prizes they have won are exposed. Besides, they are constructing a farm behind the dairy in order to show all the process to visitors, from milking the sheep to cheesemaking.

  • Farm and guest house Su Sattisceddu

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    Traversing the lowlands of Campidano and driving on the country road between Luras and San Nicolò d’Arcidano, we arrived at the family-driven farm and guest house Su Sattisceddu. Mauro, the eldest son, was expecting us and he kindly showed us the way to the farm, situated a short distance from the guest house, where his father Giuseppe is raising sheep.

    Before, this farm was occupied with selling cheese and meat, now they produce and sell milk to a cooperative called L’armentizia moderna located about 30 kilometres away in the region of Guspini. However, they prefer selling rams selected for breeding. In fact, select sheep raised at the farm are shown at national fairs.

    Mauro, being an expert on Sardinian sheep, explained together with his father, the characteristics of a good Sardinian sheep include: completely white fleece without any stains, long and even woolen fleece, no horns and a perfect line of the lower back.

    Having showed us the the way to the farm and explained how to judge the characteristics of sheep, he left and let his father Giuseppe show us around the farm.

    First, he showed us a group of sheep, inside a fence, which were preparing for birth and to which he gave some cereals in order to show us that the sheep get their required daily food rations in a trough. Instead, regarding alfalfa and hay, Giuseppe leaves it inside the fence, letting the sheep eat it whenever they want.

    He also showed us the milking room where food is distributed evenly in a trough, then the sheep are allowed to enter, but they have to put their heads through a rack and when all the animals have arrived, the farmer locks the rack such that the sheep have to stay, facilitating the milking.

    Moreover, Giuseppe explained that sheep need to eat continuously 24 hours a day, and like us, they need a varied diet. Thus, in addition to the grass they are grazing, they are fed hay, straw, etc. It’s also important to give them concentrated animal feed such that they don’t lack any nutrients. Usually, the food additives consist of seeds and legumes like beans mixed with a pulp of beetroot and cereals like barley, all of which are cultivated by Giuseppe. This highly concentrated mix is mainly given to the sheep in winter when the meadows run out of edible plants and the sheep are most vulnerable to diseases. That is during the period when the sheep are pregnant, when they are bearing lambs and the succeeding period of lactation.

    In fact, it’s very important that the sheep, being ruminants, consume the right quantity of chewable fibre, fundamental for the health of sheep.

    Giuseppe also showed us some fields sown with seeds which would give rise to plants most suitable for grazing by sheep, among which are ryegrass, Egyptian clover and sulla, the last one being much appreciated by animal breeders. In fact, it is used as fodder of prime quality, containing lots of nutrients and being rich in proteins. It’s drought resistant and, being a legume, it captures nitrogen from the atmosphere and gives it to the soil in which it is growing. Thus, it is often used between cultivation of plants which only extract nutrients from the soil.

    Being shown around the farm, we saw several meadows where the sheep could graze. Giuseppe sows the meadows some time between October and December such that there will always be a meadow on which the sheep can graze.

    Giuseppe has been a sheep farmer for many years and he’s very passionate about his work, bringing forth an activity which was started by his great-grandfather and he really hopes that his children will do likewise.

  • Farm and guest house Su Grabiolu

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    The farm and guest house Su Grabiolu is located in the countryside between Siamanna and Villaurbana. A flat rock with an inscription of a fawn was placed next to the entrance to the farm of Giovanni Busìa and his wife Michela Murgia. Together they manage the guest house, an educational farm, animal husbandry and a farmhouse dairy. Upon arrival, Giovanni invited us inside the guest house and started telling us the history of Su Gabriolu. His ancestors had mainly worked as shepherds at least since 1800 originating from Barbagia and being natives of Fonni. He told us about his grandfather and his great-grandfather who arrived at Siamanna in 1880 with his family bringing almost nothing. Almost all men from Fonni practised transhumance, bringing their livestock to places with more or less fresh grass, meaning that they mainly moved their animals into the mountains in summer and into the valleys in winter. His great-grandfather was the first to buy land in the early 1900s and to build a small shelter for provisions, for storing cheese derived from sheep’s milk and protecting the sheep. His grandfather built a house for his family in the same place and his father built another and more comfortable one, both on the same property where Giovanni is continuing the activity started by his great-grandfather and where he has built the houses constituting the present Su Gabriolu and extended the property together with his wife.

    Today Giovanni has a few hundred sheep, some donkeys, horses and pigs, a farmhouse dairy, a large property on which is cultivated fodder for the animals and various machines and vehicles for working the lands. Briefly, a multi-functional enterprise, a very big change during about 130 years.

    I have visited various farms in Sardinia, seen how they cultivate fodder for the animals, how they are bred, how they are milked and how the milk is turned into cheese, but there is one thing which distinguishes Su Grabiolu from the other farms and that is production of sheep’s cheese without lactose. The idea of shifting from producing conventional cheese to cheese without lactose came to Giovanni when he realised that selling milk to the big dairys wouldn’t pay him what he needed to make a living nor making cheese for supermarket chains.

    Both he and his wife talked with persons who didn’t eat cheese because of lactose intolerance (the inability to digest lactose, a sugar found in milk and to a lesser extent milk-derived dairy products). Having discovered that nobody else were producing cheese without lactose, they decided to start doing it. Gradually, Giovanni succeeded in lowering the contents of lactose to less than 0.01% reaching an important goal because the number of people having lactose intolerance is increasing , leading to an increased demand for high quality, digestible cheese.

    Giovanni uses raw milk, meaning that it has not been pasteurised or homogenised,  for making this type of cheese. Thus, the milk has only been warmed up to about 40°C in order to make cheese. The cheeses are aged for at least two months in order to make inactive any dangerous microorganisms occurring in the raw milk.

    Naturally, producing cheese from raw milk sets very high requirements to hygiene, but this is compensated by the organoleptic properties derived from raw milk, giving the resulting sheep’s cheese a characteristic taste and aroma. Another distinctive trait of this cheese without lactose is that it is made with vegetable rennet, while the majority of cheese is made with animal rennet. The vegetable rennet is derived from a mold, and according to Giovanni, it makes the taste of the finished product more intense. Using a vegetable rennet makes the cheeses acceptable for eating by Muslims, but Giovanni also plans to get his cheeses approved as kosher food within 2014, making them suitable for sale in Israel.

    Giovanni is a very determined person who wants to make his products conform to the requirements of the highest quality and he has made a consistent choice: cease production of high quantities and replace it with high quality. He has changed the fodder of the animals from using concentrated animal feed with added vitamins and chemicals with more organic produce, rich in cereals and grass like tall fescue, which is good for soil conservation, and clover, which fixes nitrogen, reducing the need for synthetic fertilisers. In fact, having shifted the fodder of the sheep,they produce milk having a low level of cholesterol and Giovanni will probably succeed in getting his cheeses be certified as having a low quantity of cholesterol during 2014.

    For the moment Su Grabiolu sells its products mainly in Sardinia, but they are really trying to export them as described above, selling them on-line and to fair trade groups.

  • The Cuscusa farm

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    The farm of Michele Cuscusa is situated on a hill near the village of Gonnostramatza.  His ancestors were mostly shepherds and peasants raising sheep and goats. His father was a shepherd doing transhumance, that is moving mainly sheep to the mountains in summer and to the lowlands in winter, and arrived at Campidano for the first time on horseback. In 1979 he and his family decided to move to Gonnostramatza and buy a property of 109 hectares and increasing it gradually. Michele and his brothers were entrusted with looking after flocks of sheep at a young age, making them good sheep farmers.

    Now the Cuscusa farm extends to 168 hectares and renting 70 hectares of fertile terrain particularly suited to raising sheep and it is well provided with whatever is required for running a farm like shelters for the animals, a milking room, a room for sheep-shearing and a farmhouse dairy for producing organic cheese from raw milk.

    Michele Cuscusa and his 3 brothers are cultivating fodder, maize and alfalfa or lucerne organically with the objective of improving the selection of the sheep at the farm with the inherent advantage of better cheese and in the course of several years due to only letting sheep with good qualities breed with high quality rams, the sheep of this farm all have pedigrees.

    The Cuscusa farm is continually expanding and it is really a multifunctional enterprise: in addition to raising sheep and goats, they are also raising pigs and horses with which they arrange riding trips and they have a large restaurant where they serve their guests courses from the farm.

    Michele is a man with lots of passion for agriculture and he told us how, during the boom in the 60s and 70s, peasants were advised to leave their farms in order to work in factories. Instead, he remained a farmer and he is convinced that industrialisation in Sardinia has led to very little, whereas agriculture is still wide-spread in the whole island.

    Being a very active man, Michele told us about an interesting experience of his by letting two young Japanese men, Yiuchiro e Yoichi, work as apprentices at the farmhouse dairy. Obviously, they wanted to learn how to make cheese in a small dairy from a master cheese-maker.

    What Michele has found very interesting is the interaction between two different worlds, on the one hand the Japanese, most of  who know very little about cheese and how it is made, on the other hand the Sardinians who have been farmers and shepherds for ages.

    The Cuscusa farm has a close bond with an Italian-Japanese organisation, which is called The vegetable garden of dreams or l’Orto dei sogni, which receives groups from Japan. Moreover, Michele participated actively in a yearly festival for good food at Siddi, called Appetitosamente.

    Michele has also participated as speech holder at Siddi Wine Festival regarding how to make cheese. He has organised, among other things, a seminar on the low price of milk and he has held a speech at a Slow Food event in Oristano regarding cheese-making.

    He is also the chairman of a major wine producer: Cantina di Mogoro.

    Our impression of the Cuscusa farm was that it looked well integrated in the area, they are always trying to diversify their production with particular attention to making high quality products, but always connected to the traditional, pastoral way of Sardinia.

    We thank Michele for his hospitality and for setting aside time for us.

  • The Catean farm

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    The Catean family lives in the lowlands in the village of Rotbav about 20 km north of Brasov. There, they have a dairy where they produce cheese twice daily, while their horses live in a stable a few kilometres northwards, and their sheep stay on meadows a short drive from the farm. Early in the morning we could watch cheese being made more or less manually, first by pouring milk from a milk can through a filter into a large container, then heating the milk to about 40°C and adding rennet to separate the cheese mass from the liquid. After waiting about half an hour, it was time for separation where the cheese mass was lifted by hand into a wide, open container with an opening in one end and being oblique such that the liquid could flow out and being collected in another container. Putting the remaining cheese mass in a porous cloth, and compressing it in various ways, even more liquid was ejected. Finally, the dairy workers tied the cloth tightly around the cheese mass and put wooden boards and weights on the top in order to get rid of even more liquid.

    The three sons of the Catean family, Silviu, George and Ionut, have taken university degrees, but all of them prefer to stay at their parents’ farm. One of them told my guide that it is in their blood to be farmers, and they can’t help it. However, they are running a profitable farm and their products are renowned for their excellent quality.

    All the brothers are members of Slow Food Brasov, and they have been actively participating in a project called Transhumance 2013 where 6 shepherds and a flock of sheep too young to produce milk walked along the whole of the Carpathians from Romania to Poland, via Ukraine, the Czech republic, Slovakia and Poland, a distance of about 1400 km. Actually, transhumance is as old as the hills, often being practised by farmers living in the lowlands bringing their livestock to the highlands in spring and back again in autumn. Besides, nomads have gone wherever there was food for their animals for millennia. However, due to border controls, passports, etc. this has more or less stopped, and it is to be hoped that their project will be an annual event.

    After having paid a visit to their beautiful horses residing indoors due to the strong heat, we went by horse and cart to their sheepfold. Walking on a gravel road, the horse brought us to a sheepfold, while her foal was walking next to her. There, they could both eat as much as they wanted, while we were visiting the sheepfold. It seems like Romanian sheepfolds are organised in more or less the same way, with an outer fence and an inner one located next to a shed where the shepherds are milking the sheep. The sheep enter through two openings in the shed, before getting milked by one of four shepherds. It was unbearably hot with no shade, but the sheep were waiting patiently, and the horse was sweating heavily. How man and animals survive, I have no idea, but probably the horses and the sheep best suited to the heat have been selected for breeding since ancient times. Going back again in a horse-drawn cart, we passed a nest of storks, 3 chickens and one adult. How they survive the heat is another mystery.

  • Sheepfold near the village of Budesti in Maramures

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    Having passed the picturesque village of Budesti in Maramures and driving on a gravel road for some kilometres, we arrived at the dwelling of a group of shepherds. Since they were outside looking after their animals, we could at least see that these guys were very practical, having made chairs and tables using trees from the forest in order to make life a little easier. Actually, they were residing at a sheepfold, which we had passed on the way to their house. Approaching on foot, we were met by a bunch of rather fierce livestock guarding dogs, and all we could do was to wait until one of the shepherds arrived. Having been “liberated”, we could finally approach the sheepfold.

    The sheepfold was located in a lovely place, being surrounded by hills and forests, and situated on a meadow. The shepherds were busy milking the sheep and a few goats, while one guy made the sheep enter the shed where they would be milked. Having milked all the animals, they brought the milk in cans and poured it into a large wooden barrel. Heating the milk and adding rennet, the milk was ready to be separated into cheese mass and liquid after about half an hour. Lifting the cheese mass out of the barrel and putting it into porous pieces of cloth which were hung up, the compressing of the cheese mass which were always done in the small dairies we had visited, was replaced by using  the force of gravity only.  After having made the first set of cheese, they poured the remaining liquid into a big pot and heated it on a wood-fired oven.

    After lunch, they stirred the liquid continuously until a thin layer appeared on the top. Having removed it, it was time to get hold of the ricotta cheese. That is, re-cooked cheese. Having placed all the ricotta cheese in a porous cloth and hung it up to dry, the remaining liquid was poured into a round trough where the dogs hungrily slurped it up.

    In the end, the shepherds let out all their animals from the enclosure and started bringing them to the lovely hills surrounding the sheepfold.

    Next to the enclosure, there was a primitive hut made of sticks and plastic in which one of the shepherds would sleep at night since wolves and bears are certainly able to attack their animals.

  • The Lebu family – sheep farmers

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    We met Constatin Lebu as he was receiving fresh milk brought by car from the three sheepfolds of his family. As usual, the milk was filtered and poured into big containers. then heated up to about 40°C, and his wife Lucretia added rennet to separate the liquid from the cheese mass.

    They have about 2000 sheep, which are split into three sheepfolds, and their two sons are helping with shepherding the sheep.

    Constantin worked for many years during the communist regime as a mechanical engineer in Sibiu. After the Revolution he lost his job, returned to his village, Saliste, and started to raise animals. He had always used to keep a few animals at home. Now, he is dedicating all his time to doing this. His wife, Lucretia is helping to make the cheese, and she is in charge of doing this twice a day, a process which takes around 3 hours. After having separated the cheese mass from the liquid in a porous cloth and put some weights on top in order to squeeze out the remaining liquid, she was finished for the time being.

    Cheese, which had already passed this stage, was put in salt water. First, they put a raw egg in the water. If it rises to the surface, the water is salty enough for the cheese. The salt is used to drive out more liquid, add taste to the cheese, and finish off bacteria.

    Afterwards, bits of sheep’s cheese, called telemea, was put in big, wooden barrels covered on the inside by plastic. When all the cheese had been put in the barrel, they closed the plastic by means of a knot. The barrels are made by a cooper in the Western Carpathians where people are well-known for producing them.

  • Viscri village

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    We arrived at Viscri from Brasov in the afternoon, having passed a potholed street lined with meadows, occasional deciduous trees, lots of flowers and distant hills. Then, suddenly, houses started appearing on each side of the road until we arrived at a crossroads. There, in front of us, was a creek surrounded by wide, grassy verges. Then, a wide gravel road followed by a grassy stretch with occasional fruit trees and benches and then a narrow sidewalk followed by a row of houses as far as the eye could see. On the other side of the creek, followed by a grassy stretch, there was also a narrow sidewalk followed by a row of houses. When later it started raining in a village with a similar layout, I soon found out that the sidewalks were excellent pathways while the puddles and mud on the gravel road were best to avoid.

    It doesn’t take long to discover that Viscri is very different from most villages having chickens, geese and ducks walking freely around as they please! In the courtyards, it’s common to see hens pecking, while turkeys and guinea fowl do whatever they want.

    Just walking along the main street of Viscri, it’s impossible not to notice lots of horse-drawn carts passing back and forth, some carts empty apart from the driver, while others may be fully loaded with beehives, milk containers, hay, and so on.

    Next day at sunrise, sounds of domestic animals and people crying could clearly be heard. This was the daily morning ritual when the cows and goats, after having been milked by hand, walk out from the courtyards in order to join the cowherds who bring the animals to some pasture nearby. The same procedure was repeated in the evening in reverse with the animals returning to the village and finding their way home where they would be met by their owners.

    Being surrounded by nutritious meadows, it’s only natural that sheep from Viscri spend the time from spring to autumn outside. We went by a horse-drawn cart early in the morning passing a large flock of sheep being guarded by a shepherd. Going by horse-drawn cart entails feeling all bumps along the road, squeaking from the cart and encouraging calls from the driver to the horse, while passing a beautiful landscape consisting of rolling hills and some deciduous trees. The hills were covered with high grasses and lots of flowers.

    The sheepfold we arrived at consisted of a primitive hut for making cheese and preparing meals, and a short distance away, a large enclosure partly full of sheep, and an adjacent enclosure almost filled to breaking point with sheep and bordering a shed with two holes large enough for a sheep to pass through. Having closed the entrance to the small enclosure, the sheep had to exit via the holes in the shed where 5 men were waiting for them. Each time a sheep entered the shed, one of the men would grab it by the tail, pull it back and milk it. This operation lasts only a short time, maybe less than a minute, then another sheep is milked. Being a very hot day, the sheep waiting to be milked were breathing heavily making a continuous sound. When all the sheep had been milked, the milk was brought to the primitive hut and poured into a wooden container. Rennet was added to the milk in order to separate the whey from the cheese mass.

    After having had lunch consisting of polenta and pork, one of the shepherds separated the cheese mass from the whey just by stirring the milk with his arms. After some time, he was able to feel that the cheese mass was being separated from the whey. He then brought a porous cloth into the container, somehow put the cloth around the cheese mass and lifted it up into another container with a sink such that the whey could escape.

    Having compressed the cheese mass to his satisfaction, he tied the cloth tightly around the cheese and hung it up such that the whey could go on dripping down.

    We didn’t stay to see how they treated the whey, but having watched cheesemaking several times, it seems like every cheesemaker prefer their own way of making it, even though they want to obtain the same, that is extracting the remaining cheese mass from the whey.

    It may seem like milking sheep for hours in a place with no running water, then putting one’s arm into the cheese mass would  create perfect conditions for dangerous germs in the cheese. However, having tasted cheese made in more or less the same way at several places without getting sick,  these guys somehow know how to make cheese safe for consumption although their cheesemaking is distant indeed from the way the cheese most consumers are eating is made.

    Going back to Viscri by the same horse-drawn cart, the driver stopped on a meadow with tall grass, brought out his scythe and started scything. After about a minute, he had cut a large amount of grasses and flowers, which he put in the back of the cart as food for the horse.

    We left horse and driver at a large trough in the middle of the village where the horse could have a well-deserved drink after having worked hard.

    In the evening we visited Gerda Gherghiceanu, in whose courtyard we could watch a bunch of turkey chickens mount a ladder in order to enter their home, a hole in the wall. The mother turkey waited until all her chickens had come home before she flew up the ladder and somehow entered the small hole in the wall in order to be with her chickens. Having passed the guinea fowl, we entered a barn where 3 pigs were kept, of which one of them would probably be slaughtered at Christmas.

    Gerda is renowned for her delicious meals, but we visited her in order to see what kinds of jams and juices she made.She told us that she mainly uses fruits and berries from her own garden, while her husband makes wine from their grapes. Some of the berries get picked from her own orchard, while other ones are gathered from the surrounding forests.

    She makes the following types of jams:

    • rhubarb
    • wild strawberries
    • blackcurrant
    • plums
    • apricot
    • hiprose
    • syrups:
    • elder
    • rhubarb

    and the following juices:

    • apple
    • grape

  • The Turra farm

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    After having been driving in the countryside east of Osilo for some kilometres, we arrived at the Turra farm situated at the top of a small hill. From there, we were able to see rolling hills and valleys besides a set of windmills in the horizon. Briefly, it’s a very beautiful and sparsely populated area.

    The Turra farm is managed by Giovanni Turra, his son Gavinuccio and his wife Rina, and has been family-driven for many generations.

    The Turra farm, a Slow Food presidium, is producing sheep’s cheese according to ancient traditions. Having lots of hills and valleys at their disposal, the 350 Sarda sheep at the farm can roam freely across a large area, making superb mutton.

    Since it was time for milking shortly after we had arrived, we could watch a group of sheep together with a flock of lambs coming from a nearby meadow and entering the house where the milking should take place. Gavinuccio first put feed in a long trough, then the sheep were allowed to enter a long row of vertical bars, putting their heads between the vertical bars and eating from the trough. After having locked the heads of all the sheep by closing the bars around the head of each sheep, we could watch Gavinuccio doing the milking manually. Thereafter, we were invited into the dairy, where Giovanni and Rina had finished making their famous sheep’s cheese and ricotta just before we arrived.

    While Gavinuccio was milking the sheep, we were shown around the dairy by Rina and her father-in-law Giovanni. The dairy has about 20 presses in addition to appropriate weights which are used to compress the cheeses and the ricotta mustia (a soft, delicate, white and compact cheese) in order to press out the whey, that is the liquid part of the milk. After having been compressed for some hours, the sheep’s cheeses are transferred to containers filled with water and salt. The cheeses stay floating in this mixture for some days. At the same time, as much salt is added that it isn’t dissolved in the water. Besides, a layer of salt is added on top of each cheese because the salt aids in getting rid of the whey. After the salting, the cheeses are stored in a cellar with a stable temperature around 15°C in order to mature.

    Rina and her father-in-law also produce ricotta dolce and ricotta mustia, the latter being smoked in a small room by means of burning aromatic branches of Mediterranean maquis (mastic, wild olive, juniper, etc.). Before the smoking is carried out, the elliptical discs of ricotta, previously salted and compressed, are placed on a bed of reeds, collected from groves of reeds which grow abundantly along river banks nearby.

    Of course, we couldn’t leave the farm without having accepted a coffee gently offered by Rina.

  • The Porcu shepherds

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    Photo gallery II

    We met Salvatore Porcu following his sheep across the panoramic road between Alghero and Bosa in the region of Sedduri. Following the northeastern coast of Sardinia, the views from the road were really spectacular.

    Here, between the road and the sea, is located a shed owned by the Porcu brothers, Salvatore and Giovanniantonio, who also own the area below and above the shed stretching all the way to the mountains high above us. The landscape consisted of valleys covered with meadows and Mediterranean maquis situated on steep mountain sides.

    After having asked Salvatore if I could photograph the milking of the sheep, he accepted my not so good Italian immediately, just pointing at the shed and saying that we could drive down there. After having received such a friendly welcome, we of course did as we were told. After having first passed some free-ranging pigs, we entered the long and narrow shed, where we could watch the sheep entering the shed and that most of them found a space to reside without aid. Of course, some sheep needed guidance, but after having positioned everyone in their place, one of the shepherds locked the heads of all the sheep simultaneously by means of some mechanical device. Then, Giovanniantonio who has studided veterinary sciences and has a special interest in the welfare of their animals, poured feed for the sheep into a trough such that all the sheep had something to eat. Since all the sheep had their heads locked fast and they were busy eating, Salvatore and Giovanniantonio could, with the aid of a friend, milk about 150 sheep in just a few minutes. After having made the sheep exit one end of the shed, the second group of sheep were waiting in the other end, ready to be milked.

    All the sheep are milked twice daily, morning and evening, and after having finished the milking in the morning, all the milk is transported to a tiny dairy located in the house of the Porcu family where the milk is turned into cheese and ricotta. Before adding rennet, that is a compound consisting of enzymes having been mainly extracted from calves’ stomachs, the milk is heated to about 36°C before letting it rest for about 25-30 minutes. If you want to turn the milk mass into a cheese called fiore sardo (Sardinian flower), you should start working the curd immediately, that is putting it into small cylindrical containers. I f you, instead, want to make a cheese called semicotto, the temperature of the curd has to be raised to 42°C. Then, the curd is again lifted into small, cylindrical containers. In both cases, Salvatore pressed the curd in the containers manually, in order to let the whey exit, since a cheese should contain the fat parts and not the liquid parts of the milk. Then, he placed the small containers on an incline such that the whey would be transported back to the big container, from which the cheese mass had been taken, by means of gravity. In the meantime, Salvatore heated the remaining milk, containing mostly liquid, up to 90°C when small lumps of fat started surfacing. This liquid is used as a supplement to the mainly vegetarian food their pigs are usually eating.

    Salvatore learnt how to produce cheese from his father and years of practice has turned him into one of the best producers of semicotto in his region. A main contribution to the high quality of the cheese they are producing, is the feed their sheep are eating. Besides eating herbs growing in the wild, they are also fed organic cereals. Since they are able to roam freely between the sea and high into the mountains, they are also able to eat a diverse range of plants, which will of course improve the quality of the milk they are producing.

    Place of milking the sheep: the Sedduri region

  • Colle Ostrense farm and dairy

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    This family run farm was started in 1972 when the Pittalis family came from Sardinia and bought 3 farms from old farmers when most people were moving from the countryside to the cities. We were shown around the farm by Mrs. Pittalis who let us enter a big building with lots of sheep inside. Having scaled one of the enclosures inside the building, she came back holding a lamb in her arms. Since the sheep were inside enclosures and obviously not used to visitors, they were constantly moving around during our visit. After having been to the large building, we were allowed to enter another one where just a few sheep and chickens seemed to live a really tranquil life. Finally, we were shown their goats which lived outside in their own enclosure, while a small dog followed us wherever we went. We also had a look at their farmhouse dairy and their farm shop where we could buy delicious dairy products.

    The animals
    The farm has about 500 sheep from a race called Sarda known for its high milk production and the excellent quality of the lamb’s meat. Besides, they have about 30 goats, which they keep for the milk.

    The sheep stayed inside during our stay, but usually they are free to enter and exit according to their wishes. However, they are kept inside in bad weather.

    The harvests
    The farm is growing the following types of forage for the animals:

    • oats
    • maize
    • alfalfa
    • wheat

    The cultivated area extends to 100 hectares are they are also renting 10 hectares.

    The dairy
    They are producing sheep’s and goat’s cheese together with cow’s cheese with milk they are buying from nearby farms.

    There are lots and lots of regulations for dairies and twice monthly inspectors are coming to check that the regulations are followed.

    Children from local schools are allowed to come in order to watch cheesemaking and milking of the animals. If I heard correctly, the last one made a great impression on the children and it seems like they are happy letting someone else do it.

    In addition to goat’s and the sheep’s cheese, they are also producing

    • ricotta cheese
    • mozzarella cheese
    • yogurt
    • fresh dairy products

    Other products include

    • fresh meat
    • flour
    • a flat bread from Sardinia called carasau

    Tasting of cold cuts, cheeses and bread are provided for minimum 2 persons at a time. Regarding tasting, I can attest to the quality of their products having been treated to a delicious meal of cold cuts and cheeses together with Sardinian flat bread.

    There is a facebook page for those who want to buy products from this farm.