New Zealand’s Artisan Cheese Scene: Raw Milk & Farm Cooperatives | Cheese Slices

New Zealand exports more dairy than any country in the world — almost all of it commodity product, and almost none of it with any sense of place. But in the last two decades, a small number of producers have been quietly doing something different, and many of their cheeses never leave the country.

Will begins at Canterbury Cheese Mongers in Christchurch, where former Neal's Yard Dairy alumni Sarah and Martin Aspinwall have been lobbying for changes to national food regulations that only recently permitted raw milk cheesemaking in New Zealand. From there, he visits Neudorf Dairy near Nelson — one of only three ewe's milk dairies in the country, almost entirely run by women, producing a sheep's milk Pecorino aged 12 to 18 months that Will describes as tasting of pineapple and caramel. He then travels to Meyer Gouda, where the family have been making Dutch-style clothbound Gouda since 1984: both sons left as teenagers, resenting the long hours, and both eventually came back to run it together. And near Auckland, Jan and John Walters of Crescent Dairy produce a washed-rind goat cheese called Dirty Devil — finished in its final week with French brandy, creamy and sweet despite what Will calls a smell like "heaven."

Two stops stand apart. At a small farm near Taharoa, Will meets the couple who in December 2012 became the first dairy ever registered in New Zealand to produce raw milk cheese — a battle that took years and nearly broke them. And at Whangaripo, Annie and Phil started New Zealand's buffalo dairy after importing a mixed herd from Australia: Phil had run away from his father's dairy farm at 17 to become a fishing boat skipper, and ended up milking water buffalo. The male calves, Annie explains, all become halloumi burgers.

A country that built its economy on bulk dairy is learning, slowly, what it tastes like when someone cares about the milk.

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CHAPTERS

00:00 – Introduction: Will Studd & the Cheese Slices Theme
00:45 – New Zealand's Dairy Industry: Bulk Exports & the Artisan Revival
02:00 – Canterbury Cheese Mongers, Christchurch: The Best Cheese Shop in New Zealand
03:10 – Dutch Immigrants & How Artisan Cheese Came to New Zealand
04:10 – Eccles Cakes & Lancashire: Martin Aspinwall's Famous Bakery
06:30 – Neudorf Dairy, Nelson: One of Only Three Ewe's Milk Dairies in New Zealand
08:25 – Tasting Neudorf Pecorino: Aged 12–18 Months, Pineapple & Caramel Notes
09:00 – Mount Eliza Raw Milk Goat's Gouda: New Zealand's First Registered Raw Milk Dairy
10:15 – The Battle for Raw Milk: December 2012 & a Very Good Christmas Present
12:00 – Crescent Dairy, Auckland: Jan Walters & the Dirty Devil Washed-Rind Goat Cheese
13:40 – Making Dirty Devil: Cellar Ageing, French Brandy & the Smell of Heaven
15:00 – Meyer Gouda: Dutch Cheesemaking Since 1984 & the Sons Who Came Back
16:30 – Inside Meyer's Ageing Room: Untreated Pine Shelves & Consistent Gold Medals
17:30 – Whangaripo Buffalo Dairy: A Fishing Skipper Who Ended Up Milking Water Buffalo
19:25 – Saint Benedict Ash-Ripened Buffalo Log & the Famous Halloumi Burger
22:30 – Final Reflections: Passionate People & the Future of New Zealand Artisan Cheese

Special Thanks
Cousins Tours and Travel & Tourism New Zealand

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CREDITS

*Host / Executive Producer:* Will Studd
*Sound Recordist:* Jim Graham
*Cinematographer:* Roger Price
*Titles music:* Written & produced by Dale Cornelius. © 2014 Native Tongue Music Publishing Pty Ltd
*Series Editor:* Michael Ross Robinson
*Audio Post:* Tristan Meredith - Now Hear This Audio Network
*Graphics:* Michael Strelan, Joe Kwan
*Colour Grade:* Aisya Rila
*Post Production:* Nine-V Post Singapore
*Field Producer.* Carli Ratcliff
*Series Producer:* Michael Ross Robinson

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