Formaggi!!!!!!

Today has been awesome so far!  This morning I slept in (which was very nice if I might add) and I went with my sous chef to see the production of goat cheese!  We took a chance that they were open because today is Labor Day for Italy.

This is a local place (so the production is limited since it is small) and they make all different kinds of cheese from the goats milk.  When we arrived, they took us to the barn where they house the goats for production.  All of the goats where white as could be, and had super long beards under their chin!  Also, all of the goats were extremely calm and very happy.  To me, that is a distinct factor in production of milk.  Like California says (kind of), happy goats make the best milk. 

After the barn, we went to the room with the big machine that takes the milk from the goats.  They get the goats in the line up by scattering corn on the path, which gets them to move into the space.  Once they are in, I’m sure you can figure out the rest!

We then made our way into the other building where they actually make the cheese!  When we  walked in we heard music playing but didn’t see anyone.  We said, “Hello, Hello” and finally we heard a big burly response.  We walked into the back to find (this bear of a man) the guy making the cheese.  When we arrived he was making the ricotta cheese from the leftover milk (which is amazing if I might add).   He talked to us and explained some things about the cheese.  One interesting fact, the goat milk does not need an acid to make ricotta.  All you have to do is heat it to 90 degrees Celsius and it will start to curd (I think this is only with their goat milk because it is unpasteurized). 

The next 2 pictures are the fresh cheese (made today) and will be aged for 15 days. The picture following is the fresh Ricotta cheese (INCREDIBLE!!!!!)  It truly doesn't get much better than this!

When we finished watching him make the cheese, he took us to the other room so we could then taste all the cheeses……….AMAZING!  We tasted 3 different kinds of cheese.  Two of the cheeses were soft, and the other was a little bit firmer.  The cheese on the right was the softest cheese, and had the texture of brie.  The cheese in the middle is a soft cheese that has been aged for 15 days to take out some of the moisture.  Finally the cheese on the right (my favorite) is a cheese that has been aged for 4 months.  All of these cheeses where amazing but my favorite is the last.  

Again, I have had another amazing day in Cavalese!