Willowbrae Chèvre Cheese 'Marinated Chèvre'

Fresh (Marinated)
Goat's milk (mostly Toggenburg, with Anglo-Nubian & Saanen)
Hawkesbury Valley (Blue Mountains foothills)
300g jars

Willowbrae Chèvre Cheeses have been a permanent fixture at many farmers' markets around Sydney since the very early days of "growers" markets. Willowbrae's marinated chèvre - their flagship cheese - was the first NSW farmhouse cheese I ever tried, way back before I was a "cheese person".

Willowbrae Chèvre Cheese
Marinated Chèvre

Twelve years ago Karen & David Borg swapped corporate life for a patch of land at Wilberforce and a couple of goats, and have since grown their herd to 100 milkers, and their range of cheeses to around a dozen. David looks after the goats, Karen makes the cheese, and daughter Kate makes a regular appearance at many of the markets where the cheeses are exclusively sold.

Using a similar technique to gnocchi-making, Karen rolls the fresh chèvre into sausage-like logs then cuts it into small pieces, before marinating it in a delicate blend of sunflower and olive oils, with garlic and fresh herbs. I'm not normally a fan of flavoured and marinated cheeses - perhaps that's the cheese snob in me - but I like this one because the marinade is not overpowering, and you can still taste the distinctive goat's milk cheese underneath.

It's delicous spread on good, wholemeal bread with a slice of fresh, ripe tomato, and even better atop home-made pizza. Plus, the left-over marinade makes an excellent salad dressing.

Udder Farm Premium Jersey Full Cream Milk

Non-homogenised milk
Jersey cows
Hunter Valley
750ml glass bottles
www.udderfarm.com.au

My first post for the new year takes us back to where it all begins - real milk. As it's also the first post from my new home town of Newcastle, I've chosen something local from the Hunter Valley.

Udder Farm Premium Jersey
Full Cream Milk

This old-fashioned milk is the latest addition to the range of milks, cream and cheese from Greg Haines, a dairy farmer from Luskintyre near Maitland. Greg and his family milk the cows twice each day and bottle their milk several times a week, to be sold in corner stores and markets in the local area.

Already the distinctive glass bottles are developing a cult-like following, with stories circulating of how customers are re-using them in creative ways - from bottling pasta sauce and salad dressings to rainwater and homebrew.

It's real milk with nothing added, and nothing taken away. And it tastes sensational - silky smooth, clean and sweet. I challenge you not to dip in a spoon and eat the thick plug of cream on top.

Hobbitt Farm 'Snowy Mts Chèvre'

Fresh
Goat's milk (Swiss Toggenburg / Saanen )
Snowy Mountains
100g discs

If there's one thing I look for in goat's milk cheeses, no matter whether they're fresh, aged or blue, it's clean flavours. I don't mind so much if the texture's not quite right, or even if the cheese is a little too salty, but dirty flavours are what give goat's milk cheeses a bad name.

The flavour of Hobbitt Farm's 'Snowy Mts Chèvre' - from the hills just south of Jindabyne - is as clean and fresh as the Kosciuszko mountain air. Jindabyne holds a special place in my heart, as I wrote my Honours thesis there back in the mid-90's. But that feels like a lifetime ago, and a world away from the land of cheese that I now inhabit.

Hobbitt Farm
'Snowy Mts Chèvre'

Cheese-maker Mike Corbett could be the highest altitude curd craftsman in the country, and also leads ski tours in winter - possibly the best job in the world!

The cheese is snowy white, and the texture is very dense, but not at all dry. You can almost slice it like fetta, but it still has a lovely spread-ability, and absolutely no moisture pooling inside the packet. For my taste, the salt level is a little high, but this makes the cheese perfect as a fetta stand-in.

The chèvre is also available with various flavours and marinades, such as Tasmanian mountain pepper, or you can do what I did and just add some fresh rosemary from the garden to the plain chèvre. Delicious spread thickly on home-made crostini, accompanied by a vintage ale.

Small Cow Farm 'Fettice'

Fresh (Fetta*-style)
Cow's milk
Southern Highlands
180g discs
www.smallcowfarm.com

Did you know that Fetta means "slice"? A well-made fetta should be slice-able, rather than smooth and creamy and spreadable. It should also be salty, but not so salty that you can't actually taste the cheese.

Small Cow Farm 'Fettice'

Small Cow Farm's 'Fettice' - their take on Fetta - has both of these features in spades. In fact, it's about a close as you can get to traditional fetta without being made from sheep's or goat's milk.

The very sensible tub comes with 2 discs immersed in brine, so you can easily store what you don't use for another time. Not that there's much risk of that in my kitchen.

Spanakopita - that wonderful Greek pie made with leafy greens and cheese - is one of my current favourites. I particularly like it with lots of fresh mint and a generous squeeze of lemon juice - using Small Cow Fettice, of course. Yiamas!

*"Feta" is the correct spelling for the traditional Greek cheese, and the name now has PDO status in Europe. But the variant "Fetta" is more commonly used in Australia.

High Valley Wine & Cheese Co. 'Caerphilly'

Semi-hard / white mould
Cow's milk
Central Ranges
2.5kg wheels
6 weeks maturation
www.highvalley.com.au

Possibly the most unique cheese in NSW, High Valley Caerphilly is my pick from this Mudgee producer. Originally from South Wales, traditional Caerphilly was popular in the 19th Century with Welsh coal miners who liked it for its thick rind, which made it easier to eat with dirty hands while underground.

High Valley Caerphilly

High Valley's version replaces the outer rind of grey-brown moulds with a bloomy white mould, making it look like an oversized Brie.

The cheese has three distinct zones, each with its own flavour and texture. The thin rind has a fluffy white mould and a mild earthy flavour. Just underneath the rind is a more supple, golden layer with a smooth texture and hints of butter and mushrooms. The thick centre is paler in colour, with a chalky texture, and mild milky flavour. Perfect on a Ploughman's Lunch with slices of crisp, green apple.

I'll leave the last word to a very funny customer I had recently - complete with lilting Welsh accent - who suggested I cut the Caerphilly "carefully". Anyone for Welsh Rarebit?

Thistledown Creamery 'Tin Sheep Tomme'

Semi-hard
Ewe's milk (mixed East Friesian/Awassi)
Southern Tablelands
4kg wheels
www.thistledowncreamery.com

Another wonderful cheese from talented young cheese-maker, Vanessa Bradley. Inspired by the classic ewe's milk cheeses of the Basque region boardering France and Spain, 'Tin Sheep Tomme' is the closest thing I've seen to Ossau-Iraty this side of France.

Thistledown Creamery
'Tin Sheep Tomme'

Matured for 3-4 months, it has a compact texture, with grassy, milky aromas and a sweet, nutty flavour. The natural rind is beautiful, with lovely mottled patches of grey, brown and orange, giving a deep, earthy aroma to the cheese.

You can almost smell the native pastures that the well-fed sheep graze on as you inhale.

Vanessa says the name is a nod to Aussie farms everywhere, with their bush sheds and old shearing sheds made with stringy bark and tin - such as her own family's 100-year-old shearing shed.

'Tin Sheep Tomme' is the sort of cheese you can imagine on a farmhouse kitchen table, to be grazed on at breakfast, lunch or dinner - simple, honest, unpretentious. I wish there were more cheeses like it.

Pecora Dairy 'Bloomy White'

White mould
Ewe's milk (East Friesian)
Southern Highlands
100g discs
3 weeks maturation
www.pecoradairy.com.au

Isn't this the most stunningly beautiful cheese ever? 'Bloomy White' is the first of Pecora Dairy's cheeses available commercially in Sydney, the culmination of a six year labour of love by Michael and Cressida McNamara. 'Pecora' is the Italian word for sheep, and all of their cheeses are inspired by the ewe's milk cheeses of the French Pyrenees.

Pecora Dairy 'Bloomy White'

Under its delightful, ivory skin - with those tell-tale Geotrichum wrinkles - is a molten layer resembling condensed milk, followed by a very dense, rich and smooth white centre. As with all ewe's milk cheeses, 'Bloomy White' has a very rich mouth-feel and distinctive background sweetness.

Says Michael: "More than anything we wanted a cheeese that showcases the milk. The grassy, citrussy and cream fraiche characteristics of the milk really shine through.

"We spent a great deal of time making sure it looks beautiful and also offers complexity and uniqueness.  We like thinking that the multiple textures and flavours in this delicate cheese create a unique and beautiful cheese." I've no doubt there are exciting times ahead for Pecora Dairy. Watch out, Holy Goat - you now have some serious competition!