After the craft of shepherd, here is the second in our series of “Interviews with cheesemaking crafts” : cheese manufacturer

Dragan and Chantal T who work in the heart of the Albi countryside, are specialists in the craft production of cheese from raw milk, more accurately called “dairy produce transformation”.

Right from their beginnings, the Xavier Cheese Boutique has been closely associated with this cheesemaking couple, and we are proud of these 25 years of collaboration. Pavé de la Ginestarié, Crottins du Tarn and Cœur fidèle de St Antonin are the fruits of their 25 years’ experience, their research and rigour.

Dragan is all over the place : treating the flock of 160 goats, looking after the dairy, bringing the hand of the master to the cheesemaking section. His total commitment has been the gauge of the success of the enterprise. Today he has opened his doors to give us the secrets of his manufacturing techniques.

Milk of course is the point of departure. It is a sensitive raw material destined to determine the quality of the finished products. Here raw milk is an absolute requirement, the primary criterion of quality : it can never be postponed, and is produced and worked every day of the week. To obtain this quality milk every effort is made to promote the well-being of the animals : to reproduce their natural habitat, the stables are constructed from wood and open to the four winds, the sun and the straw-covered hard-packed floor surfaces,they all contribute to a restful, secure and healthy environment. As far as their food is concerned, it involves specific agricultural products cohabiting with natural vegetation, which they feed on abundantly during their daily grazing walks. It is not by accident that the products are labelled “organic” !

In the dairy, which is a veritable transformation workshop, there reigns a lactic ambience promoting the bacteria which are in play. Here curdling takes place, generating the fermentation of the raw milk by adding “watery milk” and rennet (a rennin producing enzymatic substance from horses’ stomachs which promote curdling). The curds are left for 24h in a damp atmosphere.

Then comes ladling the mixture into moulds, a step of paramount importance. This is done manually, mould by mould. Mr T affirms : doing it by hand is very important. The curds must not be broken. Doing it this way ensures that the curds drain better and develop a finer structure, a more homogeneous and supple structure. This is a capital point for the refining which is to follow. Later in the day, the moulds are emptied and the cheeses salted. Then a first drying to allow the rind to develop, and to finish, a few days in the drying chamber.

And finally the refining stage is reached : the cheeses are placed to settle in a special cellar with a woody ambience. The rind has already been constituted : it is the interior which is now worked by lowering the temperature and increasing humidity. After a few days of maturation, the cheese is at last ready to be sampled !

To reach this level of quality, the couple required 10 years of research, experimentation and training, and in numerous fields, not only in transforming the milk, but also in agronomy, veterinary treatment, management skills, sales, etc.

CLike numerous French manufacturers, they are also among those who are called “neo-rurals”, people who it was assumed were not predisposed to the production of cheese. On the contrary, the lady initiated the project, and the gentleman, who had the status of a furniture designer, soon followed …

Of course, as Dragan says, they already had a “feeling” concerning cheese. A feeling which by dint of hard work and perseverance, has become a solid idyll of 25 years : “Today ; after 25 years in the craft, all the risky zones are known”. The cheesemaking couple have mastered their products with a consistent quality which has been recognised by 5 consecutive gold medals in national competitions (from 1987 to 1992).

For the future, the objectives are to “maintain the quality of the cheeses and the satisfaction of our customers. We are no longer in a process of development, it’s not about ‘doing more or less well’. We now work with stable networks with the aim of sharing the profits of the product. There is at the heart of these interactions, genuine human exchanges”.

And if the idea of quality is a constant concern of this man, so is transmission which is, as in numerous similar enterprises, always present. Yet there is no doubt that his know-how and a certain vision of the world of food production, have well and truly already been transmitted : their four children are all to be found in the enterprise, one being an “organic” baker and another an agronomic engineer. The succession has been assured with a concern for authenticity and quality, values highly esteemed in the craft spirit.

Interview recorded by Maya Marin, 20th October, 2006

Previous object : Shepherd’s dream (1/3)

Next subject : Xavier, Alchemist refiner(3/3)

Know more about :

Pavé de la Ginestarié, Crottins du Tarn et Coeur Fidèle de St Antonin