Cheesemaking

Disclaimer: Making cheese at Ferme Foures is a very different affair from anywhere else; it is not representative of general French cheesemaking practices. Also, they are peasants, and proud of that fact, so it is not for us to judge them.

Below is the recipe for Jean-Louis' traditional, Pyrenees Mixte tome, written by a previous WWOOFer. Translate if you are curious, but the cheese is a little like a Somerset Caerphilly, with a smooth, semi-firm "Pyrenean" texture but with fine, irregular pinholes, and a surprising acidity for a cow/sheep blend. Natural, brushed rind. A rather rustic, though satisfying, cheese.

                   These are sheep                                        This is a cow

We milk them twice a day, as Julianna demonstrates below

Every three days, there is enough milk for five or six 4-5 kg. tomes. There are only six molds, so if there's any extra curd, it gets eaten fresh "dans le maison."

Jean-Louis usually makes the cheese, and it's not uncommon for some of the grandkids to help. From left to right, Julene, Louise, and Guilleme, all help stir the curd, break up the larger lumps (but more usually just eat them) and generally get elbow deep in the cheese vat. Sanitation is important, but what's more important is making sure that the cheese doesn't taste like soap, so everything is scrubbed with water before cheesemaking. Barn boots get washed off outside, and the lights are usually off and the door closed to discourage flies, but that's about it. 

I'll just reiterate that cheesemaking here is a very different experience from most other places. Julianna and I also got to help with cheesemaking, though I only have a picture of her helping fill the molds.

                                                                                                     

The weights to press the cheese are 10 kg. However, there are only three 10 kg. weights, so the others require improvisation. There are a few 2 kg. weights, a couple of random metal rings, and a sledgehammer.

Jean-Louis very kindly agreed to make brouss one afternoon, which is a traditional, Pyrenean, peasant version of ricotta (or requeso in Spain). There's a pot of whey ("petit-lait"), heated by a propane gas ring, some random heat and wind shields, and sundry children. The ricotta was delicious with confiture.


Far from the cheesemaking I've seen, which is rather serious and rigorous, and arguably somewhat sterile, this is entirely the opposite. The curd is stirred with a wooden paddle, but Jean-Louis is up to his elbows to make sure there's nothing on the bottom. If the curd heats up too much, the cheese misses a salting, "pas mal." When hand milking, there's going to be hay and other stuff that gets in the milk; it's not a big problem, just pour it through the filter into the holding tank and keep going. Again, he has a very different, rather "laissez-faire" approach to cheesemaking, but he's no less serious about his cheese than anyone else. It has been wonderful to see such a "rustic" method of production.