Could Colin Wood’s Jersey Cheese be Australia’s first true original cheese? Read on to learn about the maker, and this remarkably delicious cheese.
Colin Wood’s journey
With a resume that includes the likes of Melbourne’s Cutler & Co. and New York City’s Flora Bar, you’d forgive Colin Wood for resting on his laurels.
But the current Sydney-sider decided to take it up a notch in 2020 when he set out to make a cheese that would be suited to grilling.
Inspired by Halloumi
Cypriot Halloumi is a PDO cheese made with a mixture of goat’s and sheep’s milk. Its unique composition and texture mean that it retains its shape when grilled and stays moist inside. While Jersey Cheese is loosely inspired by the traditional Cypriot recipe, it is also so much more!
Jersey milk from Victoria
Colin uses Jersey cow’s milk from Erindale Dairy in Numurkah, Victoria, and his adaptation of the traditional recipe. Using lower cooking temperatures and less stirring, he has been able to develop a unique cheese that has a higher moisture content than the original.
As a result, the cheese has a tantalisingly soft, delicate and creamy texture when grilled. Moreover, this is not too dissimilar to the stracciatella you would find inside burrata.
The signature of a handmade cheese
Since Colin handmakes all of his cheeses, you will very likely find that no two batches are exactly the same. Their shape will be irregular, and their size/weight might vary slightly from batch to batch.
While the cheese loosely resembles the classic Halloumi externally, there is one further point of difference during production. Unlike the Cypriot cheese, it is actually not folded over once cooked in the whey.
How to serve Jersey Cheese
Since this cheese was made to be grilled, it would be a shame to serve it in any other way.
Grill gently and serve with extra virgin olive oil, chili flakes, rock salt and lemon. You can get the complete recipe for how to grill Jersey Cheese here.
