Couple Swear by Cheese

Article by Merle Foster, Katikati Advertiser 4th August 2009

A saying conjured up for cheese-making is "good things take time" and while true for the process, it has taken only the cusp of two years for a Katikati family to achieve a loyal local following for their product.

"One goal is to be as locally made as possible", says Jill Whalley of the Mt Eliza brand (named for a Kaimai peak). Another is to achieve zero-waste from their factory and both have been successful with leftovers from production given to pigs.

We are also working with Food & safety Authority towards being able to use unpasteurised local milk. It may be a long way off but there is no reason why we cannot produce cheese as good as that found in France. Meanwhile, cheesemaker Chris Whalley experiments with processes and flavours, while the popularity of the cheese grows

The recipes we are using are hundreds of years old, steeped in tradition. Mrs Whalley says. "Records of Cheshire cheese like ours go back to the Roman times, and the Endeavour that came to New Zealand with captain Cook aboard would have had a round or two of cheese like this"

With a hard traditional rind, Red Leicester, a popular cheese in Mt Eliza's range has a rich smooth flavour that is "mouth-filling but not aggressive". The bright orange colour comes from an extract of a South American berry.

"The cheese merchants in the 8th century used to test Double Gloucester by jumping on it with both feet - if the rind cracked it was deemed unfit to travel!"

"Intense concentration" is how she describes her husbands cheese-making. It's about being meticulous and recording what you do so you use the same method each time.

Once curd is formed it is cut and the whey released. Surprisingly, 1000 litres of milk creates only 100kg of cheese. Once drained, the cheese curd left in the vat, where a maturation process starts straight away, is dry-salted, hooped into moulds and pressed overnight.

The next day it is bandaged and put in a storage room set at precise temperature and humidity levels for up to a year or longer.

The couple sell their cheese at the Village Pantry in Tepuna (Village@7) and have a stall on Friday night at the Plant & Produce market in Katikati.

Their blue cheese has been so popular they have run out, although it will return to the market before the end of the month.

We are starting to distribute to delis around the country now.

"We want to be a high-quality farmhouse cheese factory and we have the capacity to grow,' Mrs Whalley says.

"We're unique. We've decided to make something to stand out from the crowd - cloth ripened, traditionally rinded cheese.