If you’ve been following our journey for a while, you’ll know how passionate we are about raw milk cheese. In this article, we want to share with you the origin story of Victoria’s first raw milk cheese, Prom Country Cheese’s Moyarra Reserve. Read on to learn about Bronwyn and Burke Brandon’s inspiring efforts to get this unique, semi-hard uncooked raw milk cheese to market.
SEE ALSO: The many reasons why raw milk cheese is so important →
Prom Country Cheese
Nestled amongst the rolling hills in South Gippsland’s lush Moyarra Valley, lies the Brandon family farm. The farm is home to a small herd of 150 grass-fed sheep which are cared for and milked by Bronwyn and Burke Brandon.
And, on their farm, the couple also make some of Australia’s (and the world’s) best artisanal sheep’s milk cheeses. One such cheese is their signature blue cheese Venus Blue, which is where our story begins.
Isolating cultures from Venus Blue
For a number of years, the Brandon’s had been exploring ways to craft cheeses that truly express the terroir of their South Gippsland farm. There were determined to celebrate the unique biology of their environment and encapsulate in time the changes in their milk between seasons.
Their journey began with a collaboration with industry partners to isolate cheesemaking cultures from their raw milk in a laboratory. Without a doubt, their use of those culture contributed to the success of their Venus Blue. While they were running trials with those cultures, they also experimented with batches of raw milk cheese with were actually commercially prohibited at the time.
A change in regulations
After years of lobbying from a small number of artisanal cheesemakers, FSANZ finally introduced new food safety regulations to allow the production of raw milk cheeses in Australia. However, they insisted on very strict guidelines that would be enforced ruthlessly.
After two years of product development and changes in their food safety plans and procedures, Prom Country Cheese were finally granted approval in March 2020 to produce a raw milk cheese. This raw milk cheese, which would later be known as Moyarra Reserve, would have to meet a very detailed brief. Furthermore, the farm’s milk would have to pass very strict hygiene testing and would have to come from healthy udders.
The birth of Moyarra Reserve
Hence was born Moyarra Reserve, a semi-hard pressed cheese with a natural smear rind. When making Moyarra Reserve, Burke does not cook the milk or the curds at any stage of the production. Instead, he adds a pre-ripened mother culture right back to the milk at the dairy, as the raw milk flows from the udders into the vat.
Consequently, the culture inoculates the milk with good bacteria which is the first thing to grow. Moreover, the team have to maintain the highest level of hygiene at the dairy. Indeed, they have to sanitise all the production equipment, and the ewes’ teats before milking.
How the milk is handled
The food safety body dictates that the raw milk has to be processed within 24 hours of milking. Because of this, Burke adds morning milk to the previous evening’s milk and transfers it back to the cheesemaking vat immediately to be warmed back to body temperature.
During curd formation, the milk has to meet specific pH parameters at every stage. Afterwards, Burke washes the stirred curds with warm water to control its acidity and create a silky, play-dough type texture. Finally, he allows the curds to rest at the bottom of the vat in a large block.
After resting, the curd is cut and shaped into baskets to be pressed. This process gradually expels excess whey (liquid) and each wheel has to meet a maximum moisture percentage limit over the next 3 days. During that time, Burke regularly hand salts them with sea salt.
The maturation process
After salting the young cheese, Burke tests the wheels for its physical properties. If the cheese can achieve the appropriate parameters of moisture, salt, natural lactic acid, temperature and age, it will deactivate any potentially harmful pathogens. Because of this, each wheel of Moyarra Reserve is matured at 12°C for over 5 months.
Finally, at 5 months, Burke puts each wheel through a final round of extensive lab testing to guarantee that it is safe to eat. Overall, this process is very labour intensive and expensive, compared to pasteurised cheese. As a result, the cost of production, and retail price, is higher.
What does Moyarra Reserve taste like?
Having said that, Burke firmly believes that the end result worth all the effort. And, we strongly agree with him. Indeed, Moyarra Reserve is unlike any other cheese, made in Australia or elsewhere.
The cheese has a firm texture with the rare internal split. Its initial aroma and flavour are very vibrant, like the farm’s summer hay. As the flavour develops in your mouth, you can detect middle notes of milk and caramel. And its rind is beautifully earthy.
Why farmhouse cheesemaking suits raw milk cheese
Being farmhouse cheesemakers, the Brandons are in direct control of the entire process, from milking to maturation.
“Immersing ourselves into every aspect of the soil, pastures, sheep, milk and ripening environment is immensely satisfying.”
Another example of a farm achieving excellent results with their raw milk cheeses is Pecora Dairy in New South Wales’s Southern Highlands. Indeed, Pecora Dairy was the first manufacturer in Australia to make raw milk cheese in this way. Some other producers, such as Bruny Island Cheese in Tasmania, make hard cheeses where the curds are cooked at high temperatures.
Changing the Australian artisanal cheese landscape
We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about Burke and Bronwyn Brandon’s journey to make Victoria’s first raw milk cheese. This is definitely an exciting time for the local artisanal cheese industry and we can’t wait to see what other cheesemakers will come up with.
Now, tell me. What’s your favourite raw milk cheese?
Jonah is a a hipster, eco-warrior and slow food afficionado. Coming from a scientific background, Jonah has a particular interest in cheese science. And yes, he loves a good cheese pun!
