AusBuff Stuff Buffalo Mozzarella

Stretched Curd
Buffalo milk (with 20% cow's milk)
Mid-North Coast
110g tubs

Like many cheese-lovers who travel to Italy, Ian and Kim Massingham fell in love with fresh buffalo mozzarella. They were so inspired by the cheese that they purchased a herd of buffalo and the necessary equipment to make cheese, travelled to Italy again to learn from the experts, and haven't looked back.

They're currently making fresh mozzarella - and other fresh cheeses and gelato - using frozen buffalo milk transported from Cairns, blended with a little cow's milk sourced locally.

Lucky for them, buffalo milk can be frozen and transported very successfully, and the results are promising, with clean flavours and good textures in the cheese so far. They hope to make the switch to milk from their own herd "any day now"; when that happens, they'll be the only farmhouse buffalo milk cheesemakers in NSW.

You'll find son Nathan at several farmers' markets between Sydney and the QLD boarder, peddling their fresh cheeses, gelato and buffalo meat products - just look for the buffalo-esque moustache.


AusBuff Stuff
Buffalo Mozzarella

While we tend to think of fresh mozzarella as a summer cheese, the Massingham's herd produces milk all year round, and the cheese is available year-round too

So grab some late season figs, toss them in a bowl with freshly picked rocket, and tear the mozzarella into chunks. Dress with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper, and you have the perfect autumn lunch.

Marrook Farm 'Mountain Swiss' (aka 'Potholes')

Mountain-style
Cow's milk (Ayrshire)
Mid-North Coast
www.marrookfarm.com.au

The good people at Feather & Bone in Sydney recently introduced me to another fine, Swiss-style cheese from Marrook Farm. When they first took delivery of this new creation, they asked cheesemaker David Marks why he hadn't named it after a local land-mark, like his other hard cheeses, 'Bulga' and 'Brinawa'. In typical, straight-talking style, David replied that there were indeed a lot of potholes in the local area.

Marrook Farm 'Potholes'

While it is tempting to call the cheese an Emmental-style - that stereotypical "Swiss" cheese with holes in it - David insists it's not. It does utilise Propionibacteria to form the holes (these bacteria produce CO2 during the cheese's maturation, which pools inside the cheese forming holes or 'eyes'), it's not made using a 'hard-cooked' method like other Swiss-style cheeses. In fact, the recipe and method is a closely guarded secret, which David and his neighbour, a retired cheesemaker, came up with while experimenting last year.

Most cheesemakers would take months or years to develop cheese of this quality through experimentation, trial and error, but David just seems to have the knack when it comes to mountain-style cheeses.

Of all Marrook Farm's hard cheeses, I think 'Potholes' shows off the sweetness of the farm's milk best. The aroma of sweet, cultured cream gives way to a delighfully supple texture, filling the mouth with flavours of cultured butter, mushrooms and a hint of sweetness. It would probably make an excellent cooking cheese - think fondue made with 'Potholes' for melt-ability and 'Bulga' for depth of flavour - but I wouldn't know, because I ate the whole piece on its own.

Like all of Marrook Farm's hard cheeses, 'Potholes' is only made when the cows are exclusively feeding on pasture, so availability is seasonal. But well worth seeking out.

Marrook Farm 'Brinawa'

Tilsit-style
Cow's milk (Ayrshire)
Mid-North Coast
4kg wheels
4 months maturation
www.marrookfarm.com.au

Hand-made Swiss-style cheeses are rare in Australia, particularly when done this well. 'Brinawa' (pronounced BRIN-ah-wah) is similar to Tilsit, a style that reflects Heidi Falding's Swiss heritage and the kinds of cheeses that partner David Marks likes to make. Like all of Marrook Farm's products, it's a genuine farm-house cheese, meaning that the cheese-makers use milk from their own herd on their own farm, rather than sourcing milk from surrounding farms.

Marrook Farm 'Brinawa'

The cheese has a lovely, smooth natural rind, perhaps not as sticky as you might expect for a Tilsit-style - given the regular brine smears it receives over the course of its maturation - but still with a lovely pungent whiff. Inside, the cheese is a deep marigold yellow, and the aroma is both pungent and sweet. The texture is smooth and dense, without being grainy or rubbery.

The flavour is rich, complex and long, and reminds me of mushrooms and chestnuts sauteed in butter. It lingers in the mouth for a long time and is very satisfying. 'Brinawa' is a great cooking cheese and melts beautifully. When I used it to make a batch of cauliflower cheese recently, my 11-year-old said "Yum! Can we have this again?" What further endorsement do you need?

Over the Moon Non-Homogenised Yoghurt

Yoghurt
Cow's milk (Jersey)
Mid-North Coast
350g or 550g tubs
www.overthemoonmilk.com.au
www.johnsonsfarmgate.com.au

OK, so it's not exactly cheese, but it's one step closer to immortality than plain old milk. Not that there's anything plain about Over the Moon milk - it's 100% Jersey, non-homogenised and absolutely luscious! The milk comes from a single herd of grass-fed Jersey cows in the Hastings Valley, near Wauchope, and is sold by Johnson's Farmgate at various farmers' markets around Sydney and the Hunter Valley.

Over the Moon Yoghurt

The yoghurt is just full cream milk with cultures - no thickeners, no milk solids, no flavourings. I picked it up at the Newcastle Farmers' Market on the weekend.

Like non-homogenised milk, there's a thick layer of cream on the top. Underneath, the yoghurt might look a little lumpy, but the texture is silky smooth, and the flavour is mild and sweet with a very faint lemony tang. It has an absolutely clean, refreshing finish, with no cloying mouthfeel. So many commercial plain yoghurts leave a distinct 'essence of wet cow' character lingering on the back of my palate, but not this one.

When I asked the farmer what the cows are eating at the moment, he answered proudly, "grass". I commented that it's obvious they're not being fed silage, because there's no nutty flavours. "Just wait till Spring when the clover comes on," he said. "You can really taste the difference then." I'm looking forward to that.

Marrook Farm 'Bulga'

Mountain-style (Hard Cooked)
Cow's milk (Ayrshire)
Mid-North Coast
10kg wheels
6-8 months maturation
www.marrookfarm.com.au

First, I must acknowledge my good friend and fromager Ali Brien, who gave me my first taste of Marrook Farm's Bulga. Ali was the first of the Sydney cheesemongers to visit Marrook Farm on a brief whey-cation last year (more at Close to the Wedge). The samples she brought back were supposed to be 'rejects' but I thought they were just as good as many commercially available cheeses.

Six months on (and several kg's of their wonderful yoghurt later), I've finally received my first delivery of Marrook Farm's cheeses. An impressive10kg wheel, 'Bulga' certainly commands a presence. Holding the broad disc, with its smooth, natural rind, I was conscious that I was essentially holding 100L of milk, magically transformed into this solid, golden disc.

Marrook Farm 'Bulga'

While it's tempting to call the cheese a guyere, cheesemaker David Marks refers to it as a 'mountain cheese'. Fittingly, it's named after Mt Bulga, not far from Marrook Farm at Elands, NW of Taree. But it has a lot in common with gruyere, such as its compact texture, and smooth, savoury nutty-ness. I can imagine it perfectly melted atop croutons for a wintery onion soup.

This first thing I noticed when I cut open the wheel was the colour - a deep, golden yellow - and the second thing was the aroma. 'Bulga' smells of grassy pastures and damp earth (in a good way). The flavour is a little salty at first, but behind that is an incredibly rich, milky sweetness. I'm convinced this reflects the quality of the certified biodynamic milk. And the salt balances out to a smooth savouriness once properly warmed to room temperature. It paired remarkably well with a fine Chinese green tea.

This batch was made in October 2010,  making it about 7 months old. I can't wait to taste another batch with longer maturation, it has so much potential to develop richer, deeper, more complex characteristics.

I think 'Bulga' is a cheese to rival Heidi Farm's Gruyere - what do you think?