Cheese Making

On the pastures belonging to the Mierzejewski family farm, cows of the Polish Red Breed are grazing. There is some more than a dozen of them. Nowadays only slightly over one thousand of cows of this breed can be found in Poland, although in the past they amounted to almost 80% of the whole cow population. Unfortunately, they have been squeezed out of the market by the more efficient breeds of cattle. The fact is, they do not give much milk, but their milk tastes excellent and it has plenty of nutritional value. Since the milk coming from these cows has such an excellent taste, then all the products derived from it must be outstanding as well. The Mierzejewski family produces, on a very small scale, curd cheeses and the Italian style cheese. When asked which of the cheeses is most popular, Mariusz Mierzejewski answers that each kind has its own “followers,” but the family makes by most part the regular, curd cheese.

Mariusz recalls that in the old days a curd cheese was being made in every farm house. His own mother and grand mother used to make it as well. These days, however, very few farmers bother to do this homemade special. But Mierzejewski family succeeded in their field and they continue to fine tune their recipes. High quality of their products has been confirmed by the title of the Best Food Manufacturer, which the family has received in 2010, in the category of dairy products – for the curd cheese made from the milk which came from the Polish Red Breed cows.

And just how such a wonderful, farmer’s cheese is being made? The most important factor is proper preparation of milk, says the family. Fresh milk is being set aside at the room temperature, to allow it to turn into curd. The temperature must not be too high, as the milk might go sour. This would worsen the taste of the cheese. After 48 hours the milk is ready for further processing. What’s important, in making of this type of curd cheese there are no additives used, not even salt. Another cheese produced on the farm is the white Italian style cheese. Mariusz came up whith the recipe, which they are using today, in the process of trial and error. It took him quite some time, but the effect is excellent. On the farm, apart from cheese, you may also buy the basic dairy products: fresh milk and cream. The Mierzejewski family remains active in the community of the organic farmers. On their farm, there had been a congress organized by the Social Ecological Institute (Społeczny Instytut Ekologiczny), organization which brings together food product growers and manufacturers, who work according to the principles of the ecological approach.