Goat cheese anyone?

Our Italian as a second language class went on a field trip to a local goat cheese farm to see how the cheese was made (because of course that's important in the land of cheese), to sample the cheese and to purchase said cheese. So we traveled to the other side of Vicenza to a little dairy farm called Azienda Agricola DESY.
And a farm it was. Our wonderful host had the obligatory horse (cavallo) and donkey (asino) for "show" as he said. The horse was too busy eating hay to be bothered with people but the donkey was the friendliest and hairiest donkey I have ever met. He was so lonely and just wanted attention, until he thought your hand was food and tried to bite you. Otherwise, he was such a loving gentle-donkey.

The owner showed his small barn that house about 30 goats, all ranging from babies to adults. All female except for one very busy male. These were also special Alpini goats bred in the Italian Alps. It was asked what do they do with all the goats since they give birth in February and then he would have lots more goats. he told us that some young goats are kept to replace the older ones, some are sold and lastly, some are the main course at Easter as it is tradition to eat goat's head at that time. I was fortunate enought to know this little fact when my stepdad's mom came down from NJ one year and cooked a goat's head right there in our oven. Apparently it is a delicacy, one I know I will not ever partake of. In addition to the goats, the owner had a few cows, and about 15 very stinky and very stout pigs. Unfortunately, the pigs served a purpose of salami and panchetta, but that is the circle of life around here. Lastly, we met the young cows intended for veal. i felt badly for the baby cows but again, the reason the Italians don't name their livestock like we Americans to is because Peter, Paul or Mary may be dinner that night and it would sound weird saying "We just ate Peter for dinner."

After showing us the animals, the farmer then showed us the milking room and the discussed the process of how the cheese is made. This particular farm makes both cow (mucca or vacca) and goat (coppa) cheese. We saw the two aging rooms, one was for cow and the other for goats. Some cheese aged as long as a few months, especially the green cheese which is similar to our version of blue cheese and takes very much like it, except that it is green. So now it really does look like you are eating moldy cheese, but it is so delicious.

We did have an opportunity to try the goat cheese and then the milk cheese. I have come to the conclusion that goat cheese is not really a favorite cheese of mine, no matter how long it has been aged or how soft it is. The cheese itself must be an acquired taste. However, I gladly purchased some Morlacco di Vacca (fresh cow cheese) and some Stagionato di Vacca (an aged cow cheese) to take home to the family. It's a good thing my oldest LOVES cheese. And if you would like to do as the natives, take your cheese and dip it in fresh honey. It is a tasty treat!

So if you are ever in the neighborhood or want a little fun activity for the kids, check them out or stop in at your local dairy farm. http://www.aziendaagricoladesy.it/ You never know what yummy cheese or milk awaits you.