WWOOF-ing (working on organic farms) on the Istrian peninsula near Pula, Croatia. The first-generation, remarkable Winkler family goat farm making raw milk cheeses without French precedent. Farm to table restaurant run by their daughter. Spent time with chickens, goats, horses, yellow and white eggplants, purselane, goat yogurt, labneh, soft and hard cheeses, all growing on their land, 2024.
https://www.kumparicka.com/
"
the goat cheese of @kumparicka is not chevre. it is a new genre, a natural wine, jazz. each batch takes on the flavor of Istrian land in that moment, like a film photo. the goats wander with their bells chiming to devour what grass they feel like eating that day, how do you decipher what runs through their instinct? the milk is raw, curdled, pressed, aged for at least two months through rainy, warm, polleny days. the cheese warps, ridges, and cracks as its culture matures how it wishes, still descendants from those who came before. the rind is ragged as a scowling face and shows its history, a finish reminding you of sweetgrass, earth, dew, sun, chanel no.5; you would be silly to toss it. these cheese varieties are unnamed because each one takes on an identity of its own. one season, after a rainy spell, the cheese was incredibly creamy, oozing from its center. but it hasn't been able to be recreated...
"
the goat cheese of @kumparicka is not chevre. it is a new genre, a natural wine, jazz. each batch takes on the flavor of Istrian land in that moment, like a film photo. the goats wander with their bells chiming to devour what grass they feel like eating that day, how do you decipher what runs through their instinct? the milk is raw, curdled, pressed, aged for at least two months through rainy, warm, polleny days. the cheese warps, ridges, and cracks as its culture matures how it wishes, still descendants from those who came before. the rind is ragged as a scowling face and shows its history, a finish reminding you of sweetgrass, earth, dew, sun, chanel no.5; you would be silly to toss it. these cheese varieties are unnamed because each one takes on an identity of its own. one season, after a rainy spell, the cheese was incredibly creamy, oozing from its center. but it hasn't been able to be recreated...
"