Day 2: Essential Principles of Cheesemaking . . . continued

Last night I went to supper with Luca (the italian) at Trattoria - an italian restaurant in town. We ate well, as italians do, with some antipasti (antipasti misti: grilled vegetables and aged meats, burschetta: tomatoes on bread with olive oil and herbs, prosciutto: aged ham with mozzarella melted in the middle) la prima piatta (I had gnocchi with a tomato sauce, Luca pasta with a white wine creamy sauce and porcini mushrooms, which he let me try) with, of course, three different wines throughout the meal, of which he also allowed me sips. He finished with an espresso, but I was almost too full to make it out the door a good hour and a half after we had begun. I listened to Luca's story, injecting bits of my own at his request, but mostly listening. He was born in Italy, his grandmother owned a hotel and restaurant, his grandpa was a cheesemaker and bee keeper. he has a younger brother who was studious and is ambitious. He is now the head firefighter in the south of Italy. Luca, on the other hand, has been in and out of various school - hotel management, bartending school . . . He moved to the U.S. in 2003, working for a ski resort I think in the restaurant part of the resort. Those in charge were too money driven, however, and he soon transfered to San Fransisco. Soon after he moved again, this time to Santa Barbara where he again worked in a high end restaurant, I believe in the management and probably cooking end of the business. His partner was unwilling to change to become more organic/sustainable/local, so Luca found roughly 5 acres in Massachusetts. He moved there in October, leaving behind a house he still hasn't sold, 2 weeks left to work at the restaurant, and a bee hive he will bring back after he returns to CA to finish work.  He plans to create an entirely self-sustaining farm but plans on making mozzarella, caciocavallo and another italian cheese to make money until eventually he can become completely off grid. He may start a B & B type business (or an agritourismo as is popular in Italy) to get more funds until he can eventually kick everyone out and live by himself. He is friendly once approached, but a little wary at first. He has some interesting views and concepts on religion involving Mary Magdalene and Jesus having a daughter that he elaborated on later in the night, but I did not completely understand them. Overall, it was a fantastic and fascinating night.

Today in class was more cheese - we explored cultures (or "coutures" as my french instructor Marc says) and made a 'bloomy rind' cheese (think along the lines of brie or camembert). We will finish that tomorrow. We also learned a little about basic aging from Monset, our spanish teacher. Now, I think a description of Marc is in order . . .

Marc went to a premier cheesemaking school in his homeland of France. He has worked in various parts of the food industry - he worked at Nestle, a large creamery, and other places he has not elaborated on. When he talks about cheese he gets very excited, a lot of hand gestures and bulging of his already buggy eyes. He 'styles'  his hair with half of it flattish and one side gelled up in a disheveled manner. His handwriting is awful, and sometimes he doesn't understand our questions, but tries his hardest to give us an answer. His teaching is based more on how this should feel, but backed up with chemistry and science. His uses ridiculous analogies that somehow make a bit of sense, but most of the time just make us laugh. While making cheese, he was so excited about each stage. He would say "I want you to come feel this . . . feel the curd . . . stick your hands in this . . ." of course in a thick french accent while caressing or squeezing the curds and giving us a big, goofy grin. 

After finishing up with class (late, as usual - I don't even know why they gave us an upper time constraint) I was talking with 2 sisters from Georgia. They intend to start up the Calyroad Creamery (look at their pictures: www.calyroadcreamery.shutterfly.com). Both are in their 50's (just a bit younger than you, Mum and Dad) with children. Robin, the younger of the two, was flight attendant for years until she got married. She now has 2 sons - a 13 year-old who rolls his eyes at his mother's "cheese project" and a 10 year-old who is their self proclaimed marketing agent. The older sister, Cathy, has an older daughter, and maybe some other children. She is starting her 3rd career -first at Home Depot (traveling often and far), now as a real estate accessor or something, and now as a cheesemaker. We decided to go to a French restaurant in downtown Burlington for supper. We started with a cheeseplate of 3 different cheese from area cheesemakers: a fresh goat chevre; a stronger, bloomy rind type cheese (also goat) with ash on the rind; and an aged, raw milk cheese similar to a young parmesan. We decided that if Calyroad makes Chevre (which will be their first cheese) as good as what we had, they will sell out in no time. I then had a stuffed quail while they feasted on halibut and scallops. All was delicious. We talked about everything from goat herd management (they will be using goat milk from a nearby farm of 19 goats) to what I do, we discussed the class thus far and much, much more. In short, if they lived near us, they would fit right in with Tim & Lisa, Bill & Linda, Brian & Ruth as wonderful, interesting neighbors and good friends. We exchanged contact information so we can see how one another does. I'm really looking forward to seeing how their business goes - they start soon once their milk supply starts coming. They have everything but a bulk tank. On the way back to our hotels we got a little lost and almost went to New York!!! (we would've had to take a ferry, but we saw the sign) Reminds me of some other lost travelers we know . . . 

Well, that's it for now. Love much from the Green State (especially on St. Patty's Day!!!!) - Katie