Dargužiai’s cheese house sūrininkų namai dargužiuose If you ever have a walk through Dargužiai (read “Dar-goojay”) by midday, there’s a chance you meet a small horde of goats on the road. Intrigued you would stop to let them cross the street and you would smile noticing the unicorned younglings. The thorough big hairy dog would be there on some side to prevent any facetious jump and all the noisy group would be followed by a peaceful keeper who would hello you by a gentle nod. Later, you’ll learn that you’ve just met Valdas.

As the whole group slowly flows away, you’ll spot this yellow sign just in front of a green hence saying “sūrininkų namai” which means “cheese house” in Lithuanian –but that meaning, you’ll find it out quite easily. Well, now that you are here, why wouldn’t you get closer? See that house and lovely woody terrace on your left? Well, let’s get in. As you come nearer, you can hear several people outside on the terrace, around a table, joyfully chatting and... eating? Climbing the one or two steps, you’ll notice that they indeed have some bread and French cheese on boards – you know it’s French because of the big posters behind the visitors showing France, covered by cheeses. Hey, now you’re sure this is all about cheese, why not trying to know a bit more about it? You’ll get started on saying with an awful accent but generous heart a strong and clumsy ‘Laba diena!’ People will look up, a bit startled, and then seeing your traveller face and old backpack answer back a warm ‘Laba diena!’ Then you’ll have a nice and easy-going chat with some visitors where you’ll understand they are here today because it’s Jonines –ie public holiday– and because they heard about the place and were curious to have a glance and why not, among other delicacies, try some raclette! Raclette you say? Isn’t it cow cheese?

To answer your question you would enter the house and be welcomed by the incredible, tireless, skilful Ilona who, while doing one of her numerous activities (cutting and weighing cheese, presenting prepared ones in the glass-ancient wardrobe-fridge to visitors, watching out for the homemade bread, serving tables – and that list does endlessly), would confirm: yes, here we do make and sale not only goat but also cow cheeses. As we only have goat milk within the farm, cow milk is bought from neighbours. “Oh, fine!” would you say still opening big eyes, observing the place. “What’s that?” would you add because Ilona would have

pushed some things in your direction. “This is some gira with some homemade bread, goat cheese and honey. Enjoy!” After many thanks you would eat and surely, all that food and drink will be much enjoyable.

Later on, while you would be giving some help with picking and clearing salad from the little garden behind the guesthouse, some unusual sound and movement would catch your attention and you would raise your head. Hey! The goats are getting back home for a lazy nap after a wonderful grass feast! And here is the keeper who will come and shake your hand. “Hey, welcome. Let’s have a coffee, shall we? This way we can chat a little about the project we’re leading here.” Yes, sure, allons-y! In the tiny but lovely house, just nearby the guesthouse and the pen, Valdas and you would sit on the terrace around a nice coffee (and cheese). “Well, you probably noticed it’s a really small place here. We only have thirty goats but we feel like it’s the right number. We didn’t always have only goats, some time ago we had cows also. But we do prefer goats and they need less pastureland, which is good because we don’t have much. You see, our project is always on the move, always evolving, improving; since we began we’ve always been trying new things.

Actually, put it simply we want to live doing what we love: turn milk into cheese. Because, well. We do love cheese. Very much. Are you familiar with the making process? No? So were we at the beginning but we learned a lot in France, especially with a guy named Jean-Jacques. Well, making cheese is complicated in the sense that you have a lot of things that can alter your cheese, just like temperatures, air movements, oxygen, acidity or humidity. From the right quantity of each –among other settings– depends the taste and texture and well, at the end, the sale success, would it be here in the guesthouse or on the market. And because we sell, we also have economic questions to answer: on one hand, making fresh cheese from goat’s milk is quite fast and you don’t have much loss from the initial product mass, but it quickly deteriorates; on the other hand, storage of mature and dry cheese is easier and you can keep them unsold for a long time but you have to use a large quantity of milk for only a few cheeses. Hey, I guess it’s even better if we show you. Would you like to pay a visit?”. No need to say you would smile a big smile and gladly accept the offer. “If it doesn’t disturb you too much of course” you would add. “Well, this is a written document. So I guess that’s OK but usually we have a very tight scheduled and showing around only for a few days is difficult for us. Consider yourself lucky!”. Oh, God. You would.

Some goats, hard work, patience and a lot of love... Here’s your cheese! 1. Let’s start with the beginning. Milking! In summer, goats are milked twice a day: in the morning and in the evening, and five by five. Unwell goats, if any, are milked separately. While connecting udders with the milking machine and help starting milking process, Rasa –Valdas’ enthusiastic companion and partner– explains that it’s been difficult to find equipment for such a small farming, and it’s also hard to find veterinaries that know goats very well, because in the country there’s much more cows than goats, so there’s no real specialist. But they manage anyway.

Milking is also an occasion to check if any tick has bitten goats during pasture. Regularly, a consultant comes to observe and make recommendations for a better farm organization. 2. There you have your milk. Now, time to let it curdle. Curdling is turning milk from a liquid to a solid state. For that, you’ll have to heat the milk to the right temperature and then add or bacterium to create acidity or rennet, an enzyme produced in calf’s stomach, which will accelerate the coagulation process. All parameters (temperature, acidity, quantity of rennet...) depend on what type of cheese you’re aiming to make. At some precise point, your milk will be solid enough and you’ll put it out of the fire. After you cut curdled milk to obtain more or less big curds, you’ll have to remove the whey – neighbours’ pigs are found of this delicious drink.

3. Moulding curlded milk Here in the sūrininkų namai, moulding and draining represent a same step which takes place in a room with a constant temperature. More or less big curds would be put in cheesing tins a little bit tilted so that unnecessary whey will dry out. In the picture here below, Rasa is preparing Jean-Jacques, which are square and relatively dry cheeses.

These metal grids are awfully heavy! But much better than plastic ones. The day after, you’ll have to turn over the cheese in the tin or the tin itself. 4. OK, drying and shaping: done. Time to salt our precious cheeses! Another day after moulding, it’s now time to put the cheeses out of their pans and to salt them. Here again, salting the right quantity is a precious knowledge you earn after many, many tries. And it’s quite the same for ash! Sometimes, making cheeses look very much like juggling. Anyway, it’s time for us to wash all the tins so that we can make MORE CHEESES MWAHAHA. Sorry. 5. Hey they look good now. The fresh cheeses I mean. Yes. For dry cheeses you’ll have to wait quite a little longer. Matured cheeses are stocked in a cellar and regularly salted to create the rind. Patience is always rewarded. Well, here it is! Just taste, pack, sell and if any, eat the remainder. And if you’re not satisfied by the taste, well. Keep on and try again! June 2015, by a random but grateful traveller