Fetchez les moutons!

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Plenty » Opotiki
December 17th 2006

Published: January 26th 2008

The day starts with a wholesome bowl of Jim's homemade muesli - fuel for the morning of digging, grubbing, picking, weeding, raking and pruning we have ahead of us. We're usually ready by eight, although one advantage of WWOOFing in this particular household is that timekeeping isn't excessively draconian, which is lovely when you're as allergic to alarm-clocks as I am. Jim and Julie spend much o... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 27, Displayed: 21

Wrapping up

The process of wrapping up the camemberts in waxed paper before maturing.

Making ricotta

A lot like making tofu. You take the whey from another cheese, add some vinegar and a little salt, and hey presto! Ricotta.

Scalding the curds

Here Stephen is scalding the gouda curds, slowly raising their temperature by adding hot water and gently stirring them by hand. Very therapeutic.

Cutting the curds

A short while after adding rennet to the milk, it sets like a junket, and I'm using a sharp knife to cut the curds into cubes to let the whey drain a-whey.

Real feta

Not the solid white salty nonsense from supermarkets. Here I'm compacting the feta curds to give the cheese its characteristic shape. Then it's salted for a few days and ready to eat!

Sheer hard work

Blair is up at 3am, seven days a week every day of the year. Dairy farm work is hard and poorly paid, which explains why many young people leave the Bay for better opportunities elsewhere.

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Fetchez les moutons!

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