DID SOMEONE SAY CHEESE? WELL, YES, THEY DID WHEN LLANGUNLLO WI MEMBERS VISITED MONKLAND CHEESE FOR THEIR APRIL MEETING.
Members set off from Llangunllo bright and early on April 1st for a trip to Monkland Cheese. On arrival we got kitted out with coverings for our hair, very stylish!!, and our shoes as we listened to a brief health and safety reminder before Dean, the cheese maker, introduced us into his world of cheese making.
It was a bit like looking behind the curtain as we watched gallons of milk being heated in large vats as Dean talked us through the process of making the various cheese that they make. This includes preparing the milk that arrives from a local farm, acidification, coagulation, curd handling, whey separation, salting, shaping and ripening. We timed our visit well as he was about to cut the now thicken milk, curd, showing us how he tested it before attaching large paddles to break up the mixture in the vat.
Dean is clearly very passionate about the products he makes. and it was good to hear how they work with a local farms. We moved on to look at how the blue cheese is made and listened as Dean’s colleague talked us through what she did, finally moving into the drying store. The whole process was fascinating and very labour intensive with just two of them involved in making the cheeses.
The experience wouldn’t have been complete without a chance to taste the products, and of course once tried we were off to the cheese counter to make our purchases. The interesting morning was rounded off with coffee and cakes in the café. Monkland Cheese was definitely worth the visit.
Please contact Isabel Morris our secretary on 01547 550689 for information about our WI, as we welcome new members.
Anne Newton