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.

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What is Yarrawa?

Yarrawa by Pecora Dairy is Australia’s first uncooked raw sheep’s milk cheese. It is named after the indigenous word for Robertson’s unique cool climate rainforest.

Eight years in the making, the Yarrawa is in a league of its own. Effectively, tt is the labour of love of Cressida and Michael McNamara, on their farm in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.

An unadulterated expression of the local terroir

Macro factors like soil, pasture and season give this cheese its sense of time and place. But so do the seasonal microflora that are encouraged to grown within the cheese and on its natural rind.

Moreover, the cheesemaker uses only very simple starter cultures to make this cheese. Under those circumstances, indigenous yeasts and moulds have the space they need to express themselves.

Full of character

The pressed uncooked cheese has a complex grey rind that is full of character. Underneath the rind lies a slightly springy off-white pâte with tiny eyes.

Whilst Yarrawa is very robust on the nose with a strong barnyard aroma, it has an incredible array of flavours. Altogether, they range from herbaceous and citrus to floral notes with a lingering finish.

Undoubtedly, this exceptional and daring cheese smells and tastes of the region where it comes from, and the farm where it is made. If you’re looking for a comparison to European cheeses, you will be hard pressed to find one. Because this is a uniquely Australian cheese.

How to pair Yarrawa

Enjoy the Yarrawa with local Shiraz or a dry Sherry.

The post Yarrawa: Australia’s First Raw Sheep’s Milk Cheese appeared first on Cheese Atlas.

Heart of the Southern Highlands

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