Courtesy of Danielle Langloism, Wikipedia CCLCheese Making: France, Part III
Writer Madeleine Vedel, our expat in Provence, writes in this post about the intricacies of the 36 goat udders she’s helping milk for a cheese-maker in France.
“Goats are individuals in the shape of the teats, the density, the let-down impulse, and the quantity of milk they give,” Vedel writes, noting it is “part of the job to become familiar with the particularities of each goat.”
She describes the patience offered when an intern slips with a large container of milk, spilling more than half of it and denting the aluminum holding tank so seriously it’s rendered useless.
“Mistakes happen, and you just have to deal with them,” Vedel says of the slip.
When it come to the cheese itself, Vedel says she still gets turned around by the “rhythms of the laboratory.”
“Trays of cheese are daily shifted around, and I’ve not yet completely got their movements clear in my head — which ones need turning in the dryer, which ones are which age in the cave d’affinage.”
“In general, serious interns spend six months, every day, alongside established cheese makers, repeating, learning, watching, following, and gradually absorbing all the many, many aspects of this trade.”
Eds Note: To be transported even deeper into Provence, look at her photos on the grape harvest this time of year and the pressing for the wines.
