we recently took a trip down to prairie fruits farm in champaign, illinois. i have been a huge fan of their cheeses for the past few years, having tasted them at chicago’s green city market. lesle cooperband, who owns the farm with her husband wes jarrell, was more than happy to have us out for an afternoon of cheese making and meeting the goats that make it possible.
the farm was beautiful and the cheese operation was very impressive. as leslie said to me while we were making cheese, 90% of the process is cleaning and sterilizing to make sure the final product is as high in quality as the milk they start with.
not only was i impressed with the cleanliness and the the tight ship they run, but also with the care they give to their goats. these goats all are genuinely happy. we spent a few minutes over by the baby goats who were just so excited to come and say hello and get a little TLC. i asked leslie if they were all running over because they thought we had food and she said no, they just want to say hello. so cute.
the highlight for me was of course getting to milk a goat. chippy was nice enough to be my first. three of my goals in life have been to milk a cow, hug a monkey and beat someone up (strange, i know, and i would never pick a fight for the last one, i just want to see if i could knock someone out). i figured milking a goat was much closer to a cow than i have ever been, so it was a start.
milking a goat definitely feels a little weird. i just did not want to hurt the goat although i am sure they are used to the whole thing. most of the milking is done by machine which is much more efficient, but i wanted to try it the old fashioned way. still want to try a cow at some point, but this satisfied me for now.
back in the creamery, we got to work with leslie and her assistant alisa and learn the steps of making cheese. first they start with fresh milk from the goats as well as fresh local sheep’s milk. the milk is pasteurized in large tanks, then rennet is added and allowed to sit for about 45 minutes while curds and whey separate. i was able to join in on the action with cutting the cheese (ha) and ladling it into the moulds. having tasted many of the cheeses from their final states, it was very interesting to see the process and even to taste the cheese curds. it really is a science and i have a lot to learn.
looking forward to another trip back so i can learn more about the process and how they make the delicious cheeses that they do. plus, i can say hello to my new goat friends.
visit prarie fruits farm’s website for more information.
»