India may be the largest milk producer on the planet, but cheese culture in the country is still in its infancy. Save for traditional cheese likechurpi in Sikkim,kalari and qudam from Kashmir, bandel and its smoked version from Bengal, most cheese consumed is not inspired by indigenous technique.
A recent Desi Dairy Dialogue in Chennai, at The Farm, brought together cheese makers, pastoral dairies, cheesemongers and fermentation specialists to share their journeys, inspired by Indian pastoral traditions.
At the event, Trevor Warmedahl, a nomadic cheese maker explains how he encourages natural fermentation over using pasteurised and refrigerated milk, treated with rennet, in the tradition of Rajasthan’s camel herding Raika, the Maldhari and Rabari herdsmen of Kutch, and the goat herding communities in Maharashtra, all of whom he has visited. “In old cheese making traditions, the raw milk holds the magic of natural microbes that helps the milk coagulate, to create a variety of cheese,” Trevor says.
For Mansi Jasani, founder, The Cheese Collective, Mumbai, cheesemaking in India must celebrate its roots and pastoral traditions. “Cheese for me is earth and magic. It is something so intrinsically connected to the land in a grand way and yet it is made of some of the simplest ingredients,” she says.
Meet the cheesemakers who use traditional knowledge to craft contemporary cheese.
Panchal Dairy
From Panchal Dairy
Panchal Dairy in Gujarat, follows pastoral cheese making, using goat and sheep milk, available in plenty from local herding communities.
Started in 2022 by two Maldhari pastoralists, Arpan Kalotra and Bhimsinhbhai Ghanghal, the venture translates their rich dairy culture into value added products. Terroir driven flavours of goat milk are transformed into chevre, feta, halloumi, tomme de Sayla (semi hard cheese with notes of butterscotch), tymsboro (French style lactic cheese coated with ash and aged for five-seven weeks) and St. Marcellin ( bloomy rind, goat milk cheese matured for 3-5 weeks). Sheep milk is turned into ricotta, pecorino fresco, roquefort (rich and metallic, a characteristic of penicillium roquefort, the blue mould) and machego.
The founders trained with Namrata Sundaresan of Käse Cheese, Chennai, and a founder of Desi Diary Dialogue, along with Asma Sayed (co-founder, Bombay Fromagerie), Mansi Jasani (founder, The Cheese Collective, Mumbai), Aditya Raghavan (cheese maker and dairy consultant), Trevor Warmedhal and the team at The Farm, Shalini Philip and Arul Futnani.
Namrata explains, “From what I have seen from working with the pastoral communities in Gujarat, or the Toda community in the Nilgiris, or groups in Ladakh, a generation of pastoralists has always found it difficult with the changing times to bring their milk to the market and to be able to get a fair price for that. Now with the current generation, there’s an interest in saving their heritage and culture.”
In terms of adapting the cheese, and even eating it, she says she worked with them for two years, and it took them a good one year to like and appreciate the cheese, and then take it home to share it with the community. “They did that only when they figured out ways of doing it,” she says, adding that grinding the chevre with garlic chutney and chilli and putting it in a hot bajra roti is now common. The communities also have the tomme or sharper cheese with aam papad. “So once they realise there’s a palate for the cheese, and there’s a market, they do see a way forward.”
For more details check https://www.panchaldairy.com/ and https://www.kasecheese.com/collections/pastoral-cheese
Bombay Fromagerie
Asma Sayed of Bombay Fromagerie
Asma Sayed, a cheesemonger, and co- founder of Bombay Fromagerie, believes that working with pastoral communities to make artisanal cheese is the best way to add value to the rich, nutrient dense milk of local herds.
“Pastoralists graze their herds on a variety of shrubs and grasses, and the entire ecosystem is symbiotic. The goats graze and prune the scenery, while their dung fertilises the soil, completing the circle. Pastoral dairy culture is really rooted and in sync with the animals. Each herder knows his goats by name, personality and call. Preserving pastoralism is important, as the culture is slowly dwindling among the younger generations, and this traditional knowledge must be distilled and documented,” says Asma.
She has worked extensively with pastoral communities in Gujarat and along with her co- founder Ayesha Sayed, is on a mission to bring pastoral, indigenous cheese to the Indian market. Bombay Fromagerie stocks Kalari ( Surya Milk, Jammu) , camel milk cheshire from (Bahula Naturals, Rajasthan) and a variety of other hard and soft cheese, from cheese makers across the country.
For more details follow @bombayfromagerie on Instagram
Ladakh Cheese Shop
Cheese from Ladakh
For casei culture in the unforgiving cold in Leh, using a raw milk culture, clabber (produced by allowing unpasteurized milk to turn sour at a specific humidity and temperature, with a yoghurt-like consistency and sour flavour) works better, creating cheese that tastes of its terroir.
Sunil Meka, founder of Ladakh Cheese Farm, (currently on a six month hiatus), makes over a hundred batches of cheese for six months in the year, each with a batch weight of around four kilograms. It is then aged in cheese caves with optimum temperature and high humidity, near the Stakna monastery, 25 kms away from Leh. Each varietal from the A2 cow milk, tastes different, depending on the time of year, feed and fat content. From parmesan, cheddar, gruyère, tomme, gouda to mozzarella, burrata, stracciatella, ricotta, halloumi and cream cheese, Sunil says he wants to encourage pastoralists to, “continue their herding and nomadic traditions, even in very trying times.”
For more details follow @ladakhcheesefarm on Instagram
The Farm
Blocks of cheese from The Farm
Arul Futnani, at The Farm, Semmencherri, says making cheese just a hundred metres from where the buffaloes are milked, is a privilege.
“Our animals still go out to free graze on wild grasses, and wallow in the lakes and we grow some feed for them as well. So that yields better quality milk and improves health indicators for the cattle,” he says.
Starting in 2014, with buffalo milk mozzarella to top their wood fired pizzas, they used the leftover whey for ricotta. “Then we started making tomme, which is a stronger cheese, and for those who need something in between, we created the jack variety of cheese. This was followed by labneh, which is yoghurt based and is a familiar flavour for India, followed by halloumi,” says Arun.
Their cheese platter is now a happy blend of 17 cheese varieties including soft cheese like the double cream Bloomy Rind 1/277, Piccolo and aged cheeses like the Tomme de Semmencheri and Queso Coromandel. “ I really think we have the ability to introduce people to a variety of cheese in India, and be really versatile,” concludes Arul.
The Farm is at 1-277, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Semmancheri, Chennai. Call 9176050562 for reservations.
