A Rhode Island native who grew up in Providence and Little Compton, Laura knew where she wanted to be when they had finally done their time and were ready to launch Sweet and Salty Farm - and take on the significant start up costs involved in establishing a commercial cheese making business. But Andrew and Laura's dream was born many miles away in Manhattan where Andrew worked in finance and Laura worked for a food marketing company. The cows graze just steps whom where the cheese is made, on a small waterfront farm on Shaw Road in Little Compton. Sweet and Salty's herd is comprised of Jerseys, which produce slightly less milk than a typical American dairy breed like a Holstein, but the milk they do produce is richer and has a higher protein content, making it perfect for producing cheese and yogurt. The entire process for producing Peach Fizz will take from dawn, when they milk their more than 20 grass-fed dairy cows, to dusk, when they place the wheels on racks in the room where they will age. Today, they are producing Peach Fizz, a firm and dense cheese, aged 2-3 months, featuring a rind washed three times a week with Westport River Vineyards' Farmer’s Fizz sparkling wine. Depending on the cheese being produced, the wheels will be allowed to age for weeks or months. Eventually, the curds will be pressed into molds - 1 gallon of milk, weighing about 8 pounds, will yield a little more than a pound of cheese. Time and temperature are key to the process, the byproduct of which makes for a very hot and humid environment in the cheese making room, which can be altered as the needs of the cheese dictates. He, along with head cheese maker Glenn Sherman and assistant cheese maker Kate Lanou, is alternately stirring, cutting, and checking the pH of samples taken from the vat. The magic happens in a space that does not resemble a kitchen so much as a scientific laboratory, bright white and shiny stainless, where Laura's husband Andrew Morely, is keeping a very close eye on a massive pasteurizing vat full of hundreds of gallons farm-fresh milk mid-transformation to cheese. in 2019 requires a biochemist's knowledge of the rules and regulations governing this process, which uses bacteria, enzymes, and naturally forming acids to solidify milk proteins and fat into the cheese we know and love. And though man has been making cheese for hundreds of years, making cheese for sale in the U.S. Much more so than many food production operations, making cheese is a tightly controlled application of biotechnology. Make sure you take time to make a stop."Cheese making is at least fifty percent cleanliness," said Laura Haverland, tucking her hair into a net and going through her second shoe change, from blue Crocs to white boots, while transitioning from outside at Sweet and Salty Farm in Little Compton to inside their production facility. It's really nice to park either here or at Walkers and go to one, then cross the street and go to the other. Being across the street from Walker's, I wasn't sure how well they'd do with business, but they have a different kind of variety that actually makes them complimentary. If you are interested in souvenirs there are shirts and hoodies that have the farm brand on the chest and back as well. On the right side of the building are a variety of floral arrangements of varying sizes and kinds if you are interested in purchasing something to spruce up the house. On the inside are home made pizza's, pies and jams that all bear the Young Family name and symbol. There are fridges outdoors that have teas, milk, and other assorted juices if you desire (which is nice on hot days traveling in the car). I appreciated how neatly organized this way, some places you go to appear in disrepair and are sloppy, but not here. When you enter you are greeted by a spanning wooden shelf that wraps around the edge of the building (draped beneath large white tarps to shield from the sun) covered in oranges, lemons, limes and other fruit. Unlike many other locations on that hunt, this was easy to spot from the road (the white sign and flag make it hard to miss) and there was ample space to park. We found this spot on the map by doing the RI Farm Scavenger Hunt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |