Yesterday, I sold a Wensleydale with sage for half price, however the discount was for a great reason. It was for 7 litres of raw milk, all the way from Sophie the Jersey Cow who lives in Cygnet, Tasmania! How many people in the suburbs actually know the name of the cow that their milk comes from? Not many I bet.
My good friend Kate from
Vegetable Vagabond dropped by on her way to Adelaide, and we haggled the deal in advance. The milk tastes absolutely delicious and definitely worth the discount that I gave her. Just a note, I pasteurised the milk before I made the cheese, as it still keeps the cream and milk separate, and I have never sold any raw milk cheese to friends and family!
Just look at all that wonderful cream floating on the top. Kate froze the milk before transportation, as it is no problem when defrosted. I am making Romano out of all this milk, which I am filming for another cheese making tutorial that will be ready over the weekend some time.
Anyway, even if raw milk has to come from Tassie, then so be it. It is difficult to come by at the best of times. What a treat!
Here are my thoughts on the raw milk issue that I wrote on The Greening of Gavin back in February this year.
Raw Milk Madness
I noticed today that there was an article in some Australian newspapers kicking up a fuss about raw milk, or for the uninitiated, milk that has not been pasteurised. Have a read of the article titled "'
Mooshine' milk udderly bad for you. It tells a tale of some poor bloke in Bondi fined A$53,000 for selling raw milk to the public for drinking purposes, who actually knew exactly what they were buying. No cover up, no scandal, just supply and demand for a healthy product. Madness!
Well let me tell you a thing or two about raw milk. When I was knee high to a grasshopper, I lived on a dairy farm run by my Dad and Mum. It was a great dairy farm with lovely cows with Dad having a name for nearly every single one of the 150 head herd. Dad paid very particular attention to the cleanliness of the milking equipment and even washed the cows udders before putting on the suction cups that sucked all of the milk out. Me, my siblings, parents, grandparents and most of the town of Loxton North drank raw milk with no ill effects, and I am still alive and kicking. The cows were fed on grass, not grain or silage, and had a very healthy diet. All things considered, no one ever got sick from drinking our milk that was sold from the diary door by the billy can full. So what is wrong with raw milk if the entire process is treated with respect? Probably nothing in my experience, however I don't have a science degree in biology to be 100% authoritative on the subject so take my opinion with a grain of salt if that kind of attestation is required by you.
Raw milk is used in many countries throughout the world for cheese making including the large cheese producing countries of France, Italy, Greece, and Spain, and is considered safe to use in the USA if the cheese is matured for greater than 60 days. However this is not so in Australia. Talk about a nanny state or what!
I for one would use raw milk in cheese making at the drop of a had, only if I could get my hands on a fresh supply in my immediate area. Let the people choose for themselves. If they want to buy it, then let them. It certainly cannot be any worse than alcohol or tobacco which are legally sold. Health authorities should get a little perspective. More people probably die from road accidents in a single hour in this country than get sick from drinking raw milk, yet they still let people drive. Grow up governments, and let people choose!
After all, it is very difficult to taint fresh raw milk with
melamine now isn't it? Just ask the Chinese.
So I have two choices. Pasteurise the milk, as per the instructions in (b) and then make cheese with it, or follow clause (c). So that means that I can make Romano, Parmesan, and Gruyere with raw milk as long as I follow these rules. Luckily all these cheese recipes comply or can be adapted to follow the rules. With the cheese being at a lower temperature of 10C vice the normal 13C it will take a bit longer to mature anyway and loose a fair bit of moisture. So will the rest of the cheese in the cheese fridge, but just for the taste it is a sacrifice that I am willing to take!
