Farmstead Cheesemaking

Sunday, September 8, 2013
10am – 4pm
Cost: $95 plus + $25 materials fee + applicable taxes (lunch included)

The perfect accompaniment to any dinner party and always a favourite purchase at the farmers market, Farmstead Cheese is easy to make and delicious to eat. Alongside cheesemaker David Asher we will explore the various stages of cheesemaking from culturing to l’affinage (ageing). David will demonstrate and explain the techniques for making chevre, mouldy cheeses, mozzarella, feta, paneer, yogourt and kefir, and we will have the opportunity to sample these cheeses as they are prepared. The workshop will emphasize ‘natural cheesemaking’, with a focus on simple, hands-on techniques that can be easily reproduced at home. David will also discuss the history, science and practice of cheesemaking, the politics of raw milk, rennet free cheeses and dairy ferments.

David Asher Rotsztain is an organic farmer and farmstead cheesemaker on Mayne Island, where he makes chevre, as well as aged goats milk cheeses from a small herd of Saanen goats. He developed his cheesemaking skills though various teachers, including a brown Swiss cow named Sundae on Cortes Island. David leads cheesemaking workshops for many food security-minded organizations and cooking schools around the Salish Sea including the Galiano Food Program, the UBC Farm and Lifecycles in Victoria.